“Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release for them Barabbas instead.
Mark 15:9;11

• Barabbas deserved to die. He was guilty of rebellion and murder. 
• Jesus dies instead and Barabbas goes free!
• A guilty man freed and an innocent man crucified!

THIS IS A BEAUTIFUL PICTURE OF THE GOSPEL!

I am Barabbas. You are Barabbas.
We deserve to die in our sins. We are guilty.
But what amazing grace it is that the King and Creator of the universe would die in my place!
The lyrics to the song "You Are My King" come to mind:

I'm forgiven because you were forsaken
I'm accepted, You were condemned
I'm alive and well
Your spirit is within me
Because you died and rose again
Amazing love, I know it's true
It's my joy to honor you

I love Jesus! My love for Jesus is a tremendous motivator for serving Him.

But my love for Jesus can be very fickle. I bet you can relate.

But what grips me, what has captured my heart, is the realization of His great love for us. And because His amazing grace is constantly being poured out to me, I can willingly and joyfully give myself in return to Him.

Paul cites Christ's love as his motivation in 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 (NIV):
For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

When I start out my day in deep gratitude and reflection on the cross, and as I allow the cross to shape my mind through active and passive saturation of God's Word throughout the day, I'm moved to live for Jesus with greater passion and energy! His love for me is my fuel!

John Piper warns that we must not look at gratitude as returning a favor. He writes, "It (gratitude) can be a bad thing if we conceive of acting out of gratitude as returning favors, like when somebody invites you over for dinner and out of gratitude you feel the need to invite them over to dinner. If that's the way we're thinking about our relationship and obedience to God, it's bad."

But there are proper ways for gratitude to find expression. Gratitude is a spontaneous feeling but we can also make it a spiritual practice. We can make a conscious effort each day to count our blessings by remixing our prayers. Recognizing and receiving Christ's love can become a way of life. Intimacy with Christ and experiencing His compelling love will then convince us of the truth that our lives are surrendered to His redemption and our behavior is changed.

In your prayer time, begin to include heartfelt expressions of worship such as:

• There is nothing good in me apart from you, Jesus.
• You alone are my righteousness, Jesus!
• Thank you for your sacrifice on the cross!
• You have lavished me with Your love.
• Allow me to see others today through Your eyes, as You see them.
• Teach me your ways, O Lord, that I may live by in truth.
• I am prone to wander, Lord. I need you every minute today.
• Thank you for your form-fitted mercies which are new every morning to provide grace for whatever the day holds.
• Allow me to rest in Your grace today
• It's my joy to honor you today!