The Unmerited Goodness of God
Ephesians 2:4-9
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
We have received a multitude of blessings from God to be grateful for, but none of them compare to the immeasurable grace that has been given to us in Christ. While we were dead and loved the darkness of our own sin, God chose to save us by His great love, making us alive together with Christ. He changed our hardened hearts of stone and gave us a tender one that beats to know and obey Him more. He rescued us from our depravity and placed the Holy Spirit within us, who guides us and sanctifies us as we look forward to future glory. By grace, God gave His Son to bear the wrath that we deserved, while we did absolutely nothing to deserve Him. We have been saved by grace through faith, and this truth is everything we need for our hearts to be overwhelmed with thanksgiving today and every day.
The physical possessions, relationships, and communities that God has blessed us with are wonderful, but the essence of who He is, and the love and grace He has extended to us is far more precious than anything on this Earth. If tomorrow, God chooses to take away all the Earthly possessions we cling to, His goodness and grace alone will still be enough to merit our eternal thankfulness. This thanksgiving, and every other day of the year, let us strive to keep our eyes fixed on the Giver’s kindness towards each one of us when He rescued us from our rebellion and redeemed us as His beloved children.
