Praise Jesus and Save Us!

There are many things that we are thankful for and can praise God that we have them. Here are a few to think about: love, good health, good friends, freedom of religion, your parents, having a life partner, opportunity to get an education, having a home, laughter, safety and security, clean water, kindness of strangers, diversity, children, music, freedom to vote (lifehack.org). These are all very good things to be thankful for, we all are thankful that we have them in varying degrees of comfort.

However, the blessing of having someone who can be counted on to teach you, help you, guide you, and be your champion -- freeing you from hatred, oppression, and hardship -- is something and someone to be thankful for on a higher order, a divine order. That type of person is to be highly praised and admired, especially by those who look to that one to establish that new world order. Jesus is that person.

Which type of thankful person are you? One who is mainly thankful for the things of life that make your existence more comforted, secure, easier, or more fulfilling than it already is? Or, are you one who is yearning for your existence to have value, validation, and acceptance and without Jesus who established the new divine order, you feel much less thankful to be alive? The difference between the two types of thankful people is one of perception and perspective of mind, spirit, and position in the society, and one that is interchangeable depending upon where you find yourself at any given place along your life's journey.

Read Luke 19:28-40 and imagine Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem. He was lifted onto a donkey by two of his disciples and heard shouts of the throngs of his disciples praising and worshiping him, who were also ready to crown him as their king and savior, while some religious leaders tried to quiet the crowds. There were two types of thankful people there too. How do we minister to the ones that Jesus came to serve?