Thanks leading to worship

Justified - Just as if I'd never sinned at all

This is the most humbling word I can think of. On a day when thanks should be primary in our thoughts, how thankful are we for God's forgiveness? Do we realize how groundbreaking and rediculous justification really is? God looks down on us and see's perfection instead of our nasty sins. How mind blowing this is.

What could draw us to worship God more than this? I know God created the entire universe. I know He is that which holds our very existance in His hands. But He is a forgiver. I daily find it nearly impossibly hard to forgive those who have wronged me, yet the infinite God of the Universe not only forgives me, but He humbled Himself and died on a cross so He could. God's pure holiness demanded that my sin be paid for, and the only way to pay for sin is death. I deserve to die. Yet, Christ died in my place.

Just think about that. Think of what that really means. I deserve to die - not just die... but spend eternity in hell separated for the goodness of God. Yet, God Himself wrapped up in flesh hung on a tree and took my penalty. I did nothing to deserve this. In fact, I did everything I could to push God away.

Wow, I get snubbed by a girl, I get mad and find it hard to forgive her. I get annoyed by someone getting in my face. I become self-righteous and think I am the only one who knows anything and hate to be questioned. I sin and cannot even forgive myself. Yet God forgives me every time I mess up. I shove His love back in His face. I laugh at Him. I push Him away in the name of happiness. I whore myself out to whatever feels good.

Yet He is a forgiver. I am Israel in Judges. I do whatever feels right in my own eyes. I turn from God to my idols of happiness and laziness. I run my own life into the ground. Only then do I turn to God. Yet, he is always there. He is the eternal deliverer.

So, today I give my thanks to a God who deserves it. It is a sad amount of thanks. It is so much less than He deserves. I thank Him for my family, my friends, my trials that make me stronger; but most of all, I think Him for His salvific forgiveness.

"If I raise my hands will You grab me by the wrists
And will You try to pull me from the fray?
And even if my fingers join together into fists
Will You hold me firmly anyway?
Because I would try to escape You
But for everyday I'm sure
That You're on the huge side of big
And the holy side of pure
Okay, hear what I say
As I raise my hands in surrender today
Okay, here I will stay
Hands in the air, singing have Thine own way
If I raise my hands so weak and thin and frail
Will You reveal the light of mercy in Your eyes?
If I cry to You faintly will my feeble whisper fail
Or will it find its way to a reply?
Because, now that I'm exhausted I think I'm ready to admit
That I have spent all my resistance on someone I can't resist"
- Hands in the Air - The Waiting