“And forget not all His benefits” Psalm 103:2

There is a single theme which the Holy Spirit never ceases whispering to me. Have a grateful heart. Thank God no matter what. Bless the Lord at all times.

Sincere, humble gratitude  is the antidote to the world’s poisonous self exaltation. It check mates pride.  However, gratitude is more than words. It arises from knowing the full extent of God’s love and forgiveness, laying down all pretenses and responding to His mercy. For some of us it’s the reality of having been utterly lost – and then being found by the very One we’d been running away from. It is impossible for me to ever forget “being found” by God’s grace. Once restored, a broken heart refuses to return to its old self because it’s tasted and seen the goodness of the Lord. Psalm 103 is the prayer of gratitude for God’s forgiveness, healing, redemption, covenant mercy and abundance.

Gratitude is the vessel for loving God, worship and prayer. In Luke 7 the woman with the alabaster flask  knelt before Jesus, anointed Him with oil, kissed and washed His feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. She offered Jesus what the Pharisee who had invited Jesus into his house did not – recognition and worship. Jesus knew the Pharisee’s secret condemnation of the woman and rebuked him for his callous heart. The sinful woman was forgiven much because she loved much. She was possibly the same woman Jesus had saved from stoning and if so, would not her gratitude to the Lord have been  boundless? It overflowed like her tears.

This Pharisee was called Simon the Leper. Obviously, he must have been healed of his disease. Physically, he was no longer unclean or he could not have been in public, let alone have guests in his house but Jesus revealed a deeper uncleanliness: condemnation, judgment, hostility, arrogance, hardness of heart. It was also ungratefulness. Perhaps Jesus had healed him, but Simon’s heart was of stone, not living flesh. It was not cleansed. Simon was like the nine lepers  in Luke  17 who did not return to Jesus after they were healed. Having been healed of his leprosy,  he   “showed himself to the priests” but was blind and ungrateful to the Healer sitting at table.  Instead , he was offended by the woman’s extravagant worship and by Jesus’  tolerance of her. He was forgiven little because of the plank in his own eye.

Without gratitude, the same plank  blinds us.  We lose sight of how desperately we need God’s forgiveness. Then like Simon the Leper, forgiven little, we love very little.

May God give us a heart  like an alabaster flask pouring out tears of gratitude!