Gratitude: July 25, 2012

TODAYS WORD FOR WEDNESDAY JULY 25, 2012.

GRATITUDE

DEFINITION:

The quality or feeling of being grateful or thankful; appreciation for something received.

SCRIPTURE:

Because although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Romans 1: 21.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

Here in America many people do not understand what the word gratitude really means. Many people we meet do not seem to be grateful for much in their lives. Possibly we are spoiled and expect much more than we have, or possibly, it is because of the so called “ME” generation that we live in. We have taken our prosperity for granted. We really do not know how blessed we are nor do we acknowledge the one who is the giver of all that we are blessed with. We think we are entitled to it.

The lack of gratitude is just part of man’s failure that affects our society. In Romans 1:22, Paul gets right to the root of the problem. The first point Paul makes is that it is not sufficient to just be aware that God exists. We must know God. To know God means to have an intimate relationship with Him that God has made possible by His gift of salvation.

When we know God, Paul tells us that, we are to glorify Him as God. This means that we are to acknowledge His sovereignty, His holiness, and His perfection and give Him the glory in all things. God is good and every good thing that we enjoy in life comes from God. We are not just to acknowledge this fact but we are to give God thanks for it. When we do not do these things our thinking becomes “futile and our foolish hearts become darkened.”

We in America have had so much given to us by God but we neglect to show Him the gratitude that He deserves. Often those who are less fortunate in life are the ones who show the most gratitude.

We visited in Manila Philippines a large garbage dump where over 100,000 people live. These dear people search through garbage scraps, dumped by the garbage trucks, for food and anything that can be salvaged and sold for money just for survival. They live in shacks that look like they will collapse with any wind.

We were walking on this dump being led by a missionary that we worked with. We came upon this lean-to shack with an open front and saw a little 10 year old girl sitting by a box, the only thing in the room, and on that box was a Sunday school daily vacation bible school picture booklet.

We were introduced to the little girl and soon we asked about the book. Her eyes lit up and she said that someone a year before had given her that book and she read through the pictures every day. She said that she had never had a gift before and this was the best thing she ever had. Her gratitude moved us to tears. This was one of the books we had sent several years prior in a large 40 foot sea container to missionaries. This girl was still showing her gratitude for what God had given her.

And we will never forget being in the church in Kenya when the offering was taken and we saw the box being passed around full of fruit, vegetables and even a chicken. These people were showing their gratitude to God for all they had by giving a portion of what little they did have back to Him.

Do you express your gratitude to God for all that He has given you? Do you express gratitude to your spouse, your children, your parents, your family or your friends for who they are? And do not forget that God expects us to show gratitude to Him for His blessings to us. How do you respond?

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Romans 8:28.

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

PRAYER:

Lord, I acknowledge that You are the giver of every good thing that I have. Thank You for Your mercy and grace in saving me from my sins and giving me the greatest gift of all, eternal life. Thank You for all Your many blessings that You have given me.