¹⁷ And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time here as “temporary residents.” ¹⁸ For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. ¹⁹ It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. 

Dear God, when I just read this passage this morning, my mind instantly thought of the Twila Paris song “Lamb of God.” The chorus says, “Oh, Lamb of God. Sweet Lamb of God. I trust the holy Lamb of God. Wash me in his precious blood. My Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God.”

This is the verse of the day for Bible Gateway, and I assume they’ve put it here to coincide with Easter last weekend. It’s still remarkable. What you did. What you’re doing. Who you are vs. who I am. You are the Almighty God of the universe. I am 1/7-billionth of the earth’s human population (not to mention the rest of your earthly creation). And yet here you are, ransoming for me. Taking the blow of humanity’s sin, including mine, so I can sit here and pray to you this morning.

So yesterday, I talked about being more grateful for everything including my food and everything else. How did it turn out? Did it change me? Apparently not. I ended up praying before just one out of the four meals I’ve had since then. I was ashamed of myself after I finished my breakfast this morning and I remembered. I’m sorry for my sense of entitlement. Especially on a day when I was talking to someone else about the food insecurity for some in our community, and yet I am so ungrateful.

Father, I also take Jesus for granted. I take his difficult life, horrific death, and powerful resurrection for granted. I’ll do my best to be grateful. I am grateful in the limited way I can be given how great all of this is compared with what I can comprehend. Thank you.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen