February 12 - Salvation Gratitude

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith; and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works, so that no one can boast."
- Ephesians 2:8-9

For just a moment, picture in your mind the image of a roach. Yes, a household cockroach; brown insect, between one and two inches minus antennae, scrounging through garbage heaps... a cockroach. Disgusting creatures, aren't they?

Now think about this: Before we are born again, God sees our sin the way we see a cockroach. Puts roaches-and salvation-in a whole new light, doesn't it?

But what does a cockroach have to do with stewardship? Look at
Ephesians 2:8-9. Our salvation isn't accomplished by anything we've done-it's a gift. A lot of Christians know this, acknowledge it, and forget about it. Imagine digging through the trash in desperate search of a cockroach, because he's YOUR roach. You love that roach more than anything in the world, and you would even die for your beloved roach. And when you find your roach, all you want to do is hold it close to you, kiss its filthy head, and never let it go. That's what happens with a born-again Christian: God loves us so much that he digs through the layers of our sin, despite our gruesome appearance, despite our disgusting habits, and despite US. We're His child, His filthy little roach. And He gives us His grace, our salvation, as a gift! How can we possibly repay something like that?

Before we understand how to give everything back to God, we first need to understand that we should give ourselves . If God loves us enough to save us from the mire of sin we wallow in, why shouldn't we give of ourselves in gratitude?

- Elizabeth Milton