Living from Gratitude
Take a next step
Interested in joining, leading, or learning more about a discipleship group? Tell us a little about yourself and a leader will follow up.
Join a Discipleship GroupPsalm 147:11
the Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.
Many people think that God in the Old Testament must be different than the New Testament because, well, Jesus is God and He doesn't seem angry and demanding. They think the Old Testament God will do things for you, and send you blessings, but only because you work hard to keep all the rules. Once you mess up, He makes you go back to square one and start all over to build up points. One writer said we think that God is like a watering trough but in order to get some good from it, you have to keep bringing your buckets, working harder and harder to fill it up.
In this Old Testament verse we find that He is not like a watering trough, but like a spring that continually flows from the ground and the only thing we need to do is come with our thirst. From the beginning He has said He delights in those who put their hope in His continuous love. Thats because God is looking at the heart and He has always rewarded faith over outward acts of compliance.
It doesn't matter where you've been or what you have done, because while you were in your trespasses and sin, Christ died for you. In Colossians 2 it says that He did not wait until you were perfect before He paid the penalty and canceled the debt of your sin. He offered the spring of living water, of eternal life and only asked that you receive it by faith. He does not love us because we work hard to appease Him, He delights in us because we acknowledge we need Him and come to Him for the hope that He offers.
What about when Jesus said to the woman caught in adultery, "go and sin no more?" Yes, but He also said He did not condemn her. He wants us to repent, turn from our sin, and live to please Him out of gratitude for what He has already done for us. There's a big difference between working to earn His love and living from thanksgiving for the love He gave us while we were still lost. Start living in that truth today rather than letting those condemning thoughts drag you down. Tell Him that you are thankful for how He has loved you even though He knows who you are. Amen.