Mercy me! Paul’s Gratitude for God’s Mercy
We are all people with a past!
Sometimes we are proud (in a good way) of the things we have done; while at other times we feel we have been failures and so missed out on any kind of recognisable success.
So what do you think about your past? What will you be remembered for, and what would you LIKE to be remembered for?
Several times in the New Testament Paul speaks or writes about his past. It comes up in various letters he wrote, and he speaks openly about it when he is on trial several times. What comes across so often is his sense of gratitude for what God has done for him – that is certainly the case here in this letter to Timothy.
Will this sense of gratitude to God come across in your conversation and writing this coming week? How will you express gratitude to God?
v 14 Oh, how generous and gracious our Lord was! He filled me with the faith and love that come from Christ Jesus.
The key word running right through the readings this week is gratitude. Paul was overflowing with it as he reflected on God’s totally undeserved kindness and mercy towards him. I don’t know about you, but one of the things I was always expected to do after a birthday or Christmas was to sit down and write the necessary ‘Thank You’ letters. It didn’t matter if it was a pair of hand-knitted socks from a Grandma or a useful postal order from an uncle, just get down and write your ‘Thank You’ letters. And I must confess that when there is no apparent gratitude expressed by a friend or family member following a birthday gift I now feel a bit unappreciated. Maybe it wasn’t the best or most useful gift to give after all in spite of the agonising over what to get, but to be ignored tells the story of ingratitude. That won’t stop me trying to get something more useful next time round, but, well … it does leave a certain feeling doesn’t it.
Our Heavenly Father must feel a little like that when our prayers are a catalogue of requests and hardly a ‘Thank You’ in sight! Paul’s heart simply wells up with gratitude when he appreciates how generous and gracious God had been with him. Do you ever feel the same – and do you ever express that in your prayers of thanksgiving?
What would you want to say to God today when you pause to reflect on the way He has led you through life and blessed you in your walk with Him?
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