“Your faith has healed you.” Luke 17:19
This Thanksgiving someone is going to ask you what you are thankful for. I hope, Christian, that you will be ready this Thanksgiving to answer that question. I challenge you to be the one who asks and answers first. You could talk about what you and others are thankful for all day; we know the turkey will take between 6 and 20 hours to finish cooking.
I further hereby challenge you, the redeemed of Jesus the Savior, to be continually thankful when you’re gathered with others and when you’re praying alone.
Like the leprous Samaritan man in Luke 17, God has done more for us than we could have asked or imagined. That man cried out for mercy hoping that Jesus could cleanse him from leprosy, but he was cleansed, healed, and saved.
Your salvation started with God’s radical acceptance of you. Because God is holy, and you were not, God paid for your sins on the cross. In the gospels, Jesus goes to the outcasts and shows them kindness.
You are completely forgiven. We carry different weights in this life, but Christians must not carry the weight of unforgiveness. Your sins were nailed to the cross. “He (Jesus) canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross.” Colossians 2:14
Jesus is always with you. He told the disciples that he would be with us til the end of the age.
As you reflect on your salvation, offer your mind and your mouth to thankfulness. The world accuses us of being self-righteous, and sometimes we are. But we hate self-righteousness. Jesus is giving us his righteousness. He has done all for us.
