Grace. We all begin at the same place. We all end at the same place. Grace.

Our eternal relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ depends entirely upon God’s grace to us. His grace was granted us “from all eternity” (2 Tim 1:9), and "the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us” will be on display “in the ages to come” (Eph. 2:7”. Grace is the story of our life of salvation, because grace is the story of the Life of Jesus (John 1:14-18). 

But how can we maintain a deep appreciation for God’s incredible grace? All Christians have been given “grace upon grace.” We recognize it when we come to faith and often speak and sing of the manifold grace that God has freely given through His Son. However, we are also creatures of habit with very short memories and sometimes minute-long attention spans. We can easily take this wonderful gift for granted and attempt to complete our Christian journey through our own good works. We become like the Galatians, whom Paul warned, “Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” (Galatians 3:3).  

There is no deep secret here. Appreciating grace involves practicing the disciplines of grace. But as we pray, worship, fellowship, serve, and study God’s Word, we must do all of these with an awareness that it is “God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13). Grace remains the overarching principle in our lives, even when we do not realize it.

But there is one discipline of grace that I believe can serve to remind us of God’s grace, and that is gratitude. If grace means unmerited favor, if it is a kindness from God to us who are undeserving, and if grace is shown in the gift of eternal life, then our hearts should be full of gratitude, and we should thank Him often for what we have received.

Titus 3:4-7 states, “But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

What can be our response to such life-changing truth? Gratitude. When someone gives us a wonderful gift, our response is, “Thank you!” The apostle Paul would say that we are to be “joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light” (Colossians 1:11-12). Gratitude is to be spoken. 

Thanksgiving to God for the grace He has shown us should be a regular part of our everyday life. Thanksgiving (and praise) should be the starting point of our daily devotions. Yes, read, pray, while asking God to do great things, but do not forget to thank Him daily for the gift of eternal life by His grace. A daily dose of thanksgiving for grace will protect us against taking grace for granted and forgetting where we started, and where it all ends: Grace.

“Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” (2 Corinthians 9:15).