I have never questioned my baptism. It was and always will be the greatest day of my life. However, since that day I have continually gained fresh insight into how great a burden of sin Christ has saved me from.
Shame should indeed be an appropriate response. But Christ’s once-for-all sacrifice for our sins even removes that guilt and fills our heart with gratitude.
Simon the Pharisee was quick to condemn Jesus for not getting rid of the “sinful” women who anointed Jesus’ feet at his house (Luke 7:36-50). Jesus played along with Simon’s assessment that she was a bigger sinner than he, and by way of illustration asked him what kind of a person was more likely to love a forgiving debt collector. “I suppose the one whom he forgave more,” he said. (Luke 7:43). Simon at least got that part right, but Jesus went on to remind him that he hadn’t even offered Jesus the courtesies of common hospitality, but this woman had not stopped pouring out her love upon him since her arrival. She knew the Forgiving Debt Collector when she saw him. Thus, Jesus concluded,
“For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.” (Luke 7:47).
Our Gratitude-Levels are excellent indicators of how much we love Jesus. Miserable Christians need to weed out those thorns that make them unfruitful—the worries of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth that chokes the Word (Matthew 13:22). For, as Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other” (Matthew 6:24).
We praise God for that which sustains the body. How much more for he who sustains our soul?
John Staiger
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