In Touch - Nov. 22, 2007

Sign Up for Email?
2007 Nov 22

In Touch Daily Devotional
by Dr. Charles Stanley

November 22, 2007 – Thankful for God’s Forgiveness – Ephesians 2:1-9

Imagine an old rundown shack. The windows are boarded up and covered with graffiti. Inside, decades of neglect have left the wood floors warped and rotten. Paint is peeling off the walls like a bad sunburn, and there is a strong smell of must and mildew.

Now, is this a place you would want to live?

Isaiah 64:6 says, “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment.” But think about this: despite the fact that we were dirty and filled with sin, God chose to intercede on our behalf and save us from the spiritual wrecking ball that is Satan.

The Lord could have left us to our own devices. He could have forsaken us, just like an abandoned shack. But the God of the universe— who is fit to occupy a mansion more glorious than man could ever build—chose to send His Son to live in and through us.

Of course, for the Christian, every day of the year should be a time of Thanksgiving. But on this holiday officially set aside for giving thanks, why not take the opportunity to reflect humbly on God’s countless blessings—of forgiveness, salvation, and life itself. Let the day be a time when you truly commit to placing Him first in your lives.

Sin separated us from God, but “He has now reconciled [us] in His fleshly body through death, in order to present [us] before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach” (Colossians 1:21-22). Because of Christ—not through our own actions—we are no longer a dirty, abandoned shack. That’s something for which to be thankful.

FEATURED RESOURCE

The Life Principles Bible