When last did you say: “Thank You Jesus?”  Now before you hurry off and say that you thank Jesus often: I am not talking about having a thankful heart for all that Jesus has given us.  Like the fact that we are alive, have food, shelter, clothing, health, family or whatever it is that you are thankful for.  Perhaps you have been made aware that there are many in the world that don’t even have the basics listed above and so we are mindful to say thank-you.

I am not even talking about what Jesus may have done for you personally.  Perhaps He healed you, saved your marriage, protected your children, made your business successful etc.  Our hearts will naturally remember His goodness to us, His faithfulness if we take the time to be thinking about it.

What I am talking about, is when last did you say: “Thank You Jesus” for your salvation.

Today is Good Friday in my country, we are privileged to still be able to remember the death of our Savior, but more importantly to celebrate His resurrection on Monday.  It is a long weekend in which we make a point to remember what His death means for us and why His resurrection is equally important to us.

Through Jesus’ death we have forgiveness of sin, all sin (Eph 1:7).  Through His life, we have eternal life and the power of sin and death is forever destroyed (Hebrews 2:14).  Because of Him, we look forward to a new life, an abundant life (John 10:10) and an eternal life(John 3:15).  This is a free gift to us, it cannot be bought, bartered or stolen.  It is freely given.

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God –  not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Eph 2:8)

It is freely given and there is no cost to us, but for Jesus it was really expensive.  Our thankfulness for our salvation is often in direct proportion to an understanding of the cost involved in a gift.  During Easter, we as believers spend this important time, not just to think of hot-cross buns, bunnies, eggs and lamb roast, but more in particular, it is a time focus on what Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross cost Him and what it means to us.

We think on how dearly it cost Him, in every way, to bring us the gift of salvation: so that our hearts, once more, overflow with thankfulness for our salvation.

It is a pity we do not take the time to remember more often and say: “Thank You, Jesus.”

Amongst other things, Isaiah 53 tells us that it cost Jesus His:

  1. Reputation: Isaiah 53:3: “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.”
  2. Happiness: He was a man of sorrows: Isaiah 53:4 “Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted.”
  3. Innocence: The sins of the world were placed on Him. Isaiah 53:5 “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.”
  4. Right to appeal. Isaiah 53:7 “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.”
  5. Posterity (future) Isaiah 53:8: “He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation?…”
  6. Life Isaiah 53:8: “…for he was cut off out of the land of the living:for the transgression of my people was he stricken.”

Jesus paid a very high price for man’s salvation. Why was Jesus willing to pay the price?

  • We are His treasured possession.  Malachi 3:17-18

“‘On the day when I act,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘they will be my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as a father has compassion and spares his son who serves him.  And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.”

  • He focused on His joy to have a relationship with us.

“For the joy that was set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” (Heb 12:2-3)

  • When was the last time you meditated on the cost of your salvation and the level of your thankfulness?
  • What has your walk with the Lord cost you in return?

Father, thank you for being willing to give up Your Son so that we could have forgiveness of sin.  Jesus thank you for all you had to give up, experience and endure so that we could have forgiveness of sin and eternal life.  Lord, please let the wonder and value of my salvation never be something I take for granted, but make my heart ever mindful of how wonderful my salvation is, how valuable, how precious was Your sacrifice, how precious was Your blood.

A special and blessed Easter to all my regular readers of Heart Treasure.  May it be a special time of remembrance and celebration with your families.

Appreciating the Heart of Jesus