Daily Thought: Rejoice When God is Glorified

"You rejoice because you and your family are in good health, because your friends are smiling upon you, because circumstances surrounding you are favorable, because you have an abundance of good things to eat and of clothing to wear. But your rejoicing is only in earthly things. We are to be grateful for these things, but they are only the sea-foam of joy; the water lies beneath. True joy is to rejoice not only in the Lord but with the Lord. Rejoice in those things in which Jesus and the angels rejoice. When your goods are being wasted, you find your deepest joy because God is being glorified."

Orr, Charles Ebert (2004-11-01). How to Live a Holy Life (p. 64). Public Domain Books. Kindle Edition.

Daily Thought: Don't Be Bitter

"When we embrace bitterness, we reject grace. When we allow a bitter root to take hold of our hearts, we literally miss the grace of God. Bitterness destroys our relationships, impairs our judgment, skews our perspective, and distorts our memories." ~ Erwin McManus, Uprising, p. 124

Perception Affects Our Gratitude

{Colossians 2:6-7; ESV}
Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

Consider for a moment what Erwin McManus wrote in Uprising: A Revolution of the Soul:

Perspective is not shaped in a vacuum; it is formed in the context of gratitude. An ungrateful person sees the glass as half-empty and wonders who is holding out on him. The grateful see the glass as half-full knowing that someone has shared with them more than they deserve. (p. 124)

Gratitude plays such a huge part in the perspective we have on life. When we are grateful not only will we be content with much less, but we also have a very optimistic outlook. Contentment, peace, and hope are characteristics which define a person who is grateful.

It is hard to be grateful when the life you are living isn’t the life that you want.  That is basically the story of my life.  So much of my life has been wasted because I have been dissatisfied with my life, and I was angry with God for not giving me the life that I wanted to live.  The question being asked in my heart was, “Why is God holding out on me?”

It is hard to live life when you want a different life: different experiences, different friends, different talents, different opportunities, and a different personality.  You think life would be so much better if you had the life of someone else.

For me this has been one the many obstacles that I have to overcome in my journey to become the person God created me to be.  The thing is it is an obstacle I have faced more than once.  Like most temptations and sins that we face, this feeling of discontentment is one that keeps popping up in my life.  Why do I have  to struggle so hard to do what comes so naturally to others? It would be so much easier if I was... and other similar questions haunt my thoughts.

The problem with this thinking is that it ignores what God has done for me, and in the process it distracts me from living the life God created me to live.  Gratitude for the blessings, experiences, and talents God has given me provides me with peace and assurance that I need to live the life God has planned for me to live.

Consider what the apostle Paul wrote about the result of the grateful heart:

6 Never worry about anything, but in every situation let your petitions be made known to God in prayers and requests, with thanksgiving. 7 Then God's peace, which goes far beyond anything we can imagine, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7; ISV)

God’s peace is given to those who are grateful.  Worry, fear, and loneliness are some of the feelings the consume the hearts of the ungrateful.  God has given each one of us so much.  It is time for us to stop focusing on what we don’t have and start thanking God for what we do have.  Then, and only then, do we experience the peace that God has promised to His children.

Point to Ponder: When we are grateful not only will we be content with much less, but we also have a very optimistic outlook.
Passage to Remember: Philippians 4:6-7
Question to Consider: What are some of the things you are grateful for in your life?

Gratitude and Perspective

Originally posted on Wednesday October 27, 2004

Ponder for a moment what Erwin McManus wrote in his book Uprising; “Perspective is not shaped in a vacuum; it is formed in the context of gratitude. An ungrateful person sees the glass as half-empty and wonders who is holding out on him. The grateful see the glass as half-full knowing that someone has shared with them more than they deserve.”

Gratitude informs our perspective on life. When we are grateful not only are we content with much less, but we also will have an optimistic outlook for the future. Contentment, peace, and hope are characteristics which define the grateful person.

What I have found to be amazing is the number of people in this country who are not grateful. We live in a country where food is plentiful, jobs are plentiful, medicine is plentiful, and education opportunities are plentiful. I know you can tell me about the unemployment, jobs going overseas, a shortage of flu vaccine, and a number of other bad statistics, but the truth remains that when compared to any other country, past of present, this country is still the best place to live. We might consider our unemployment high, but it is nothing compared to what other nations deal with.

Even though our economy is a mess, unemployment continues to rise, and we have soldiers dying on foreign soil we still live in a wonderful country. While it is easy to complain about what is happening to our country, we are still able to live in a country that is a land of plenty.

I am grateful for the United States of America. One reason I am grateful is because I realize in many other places I would not have the opportunities that I have. The problem is so many of us have come to believe that these things are our rights and that we deserve them. When that is our perspective we will not be grateful for what we have, instead we will become bitter because we believe someone is holding out on us. When we are ungrateful for what we have, we will end up wasting it the great gifts God has given.

Another reason I am grateful is because I realize what I deserve. I deserve nothing. As rebellious sinners none of us deserve anything. Everything we have, from the air we breathe to the pleasure of Bunny Tracks Ice Cream, is a gift from God. If it wasn’t for God’s grace we would never experience any of the pleasures of life. Please remember that God gives, not because we have earned it, but because He loves us. I don’t deserve to live in this great country with our Constitution and opportunities, but God put me here because He knew this is the best environment for me to discover Him. When I was God’s enemy He still gave me what was best for me.

When we live a life of gratitude we have a perspective of hope. Rather than being pessimistic about the future, because I believe someone is holding out on me, I believe things will turn out for the best because God is willing to give me what I need. Regardless of what happens with the economy or health care, I am optimistic about what lies ahead. My life is not tied to what happens in Washington, it is tied to my faith in a generous and loving God. No matter what happens the future is bright because of Him.

Thankful or Give Thanks

I have mentioned before that I can be a little dense, and therefore it takes me a little while longer to figure some things out. For the past week or so I have noticed people on Facebook post things that they are thankful for. As I read these I realized that just because you are "thankful" doesn't mean that you acknowledge that it is a gift from God. I am afraid that in most people's minds saying that they are "thankful" just means that they appreciate certain things in their lives.

For the follower of Christ this holiday of Thanksgiving should be a time when we acknowledge that God has blessed our lives and tell Him thank you. It isn't enough just acknowledge that there are good there are good things in our lives. Everyone can find something in their lives that they appreciate, what needs to set Christians apart is our willingness to say thank You to the one who gave us the good gifts.

My challenge to all of us is not just to be thankful, but to give thanks as well. Anyone can be thankful, but it is an act of faith to give thanks to Creator God for all He has given us.

"Anyone can attend church. Only truly devoted followers of Jesus can change the world." - Aaron Brockett

Sent from my iPod

Thankful for God's Love

Originally posted Saturday October 16, 2004

Erwin McManus wrote; “It is gratitude that nurtures wholeness and expresses itself as generosity in the end. Gratitude is the pathway of love. It unleashes the healing power of love. It increases our capacity to experience love and give it” (Uprising; p. 114). Gratitude helps us to become people of love.

Love is a choice, but first it was a gift. God’s love for us is the greatest of all the gifts which He has given. Our very lives are products of God’s love. If God did not love we would not exist. If God did not love all the pleasures we enjoy in life would never have been woven into the world. It is God’s love that is behind every gift and blessing that we have ever enjoyed.

Even before we became Christians God’s love was freely given to us. When we were God’s enemies He showed us love through giving us time to repent and an opportunity to hear the Gospel. That is cause for thanksgiving.

I do think we run into a problem with God’s love. The problem is that God’s love has been such a constant for us we have grown use to it. We no longer see it as the great gift that it is, and instead we come to think of it as something that we deserve. God’s love is a gift to be treasured, but it has become an everyday occurrence which is easy to ignore.

How do we show our gratitude for the love God has given us? I believe the first step is taking an honest look at ourselves. This is not a one time occurrence, but it is something which needs to be done on a regular basis. As God’s messenger, I give each of you this warning: Be honest in your estimate of yourselves, measuring your value by how much faith God has given you (Romans 12:3; NLT). This is the beginning point of humility. Without humility we begin to think we deserve gift that is given to us. Only the humble see the blessings of God as the gifts that they are and therefore respond in gratitude.

I believe the next step in being grateful for God’s love is by using the gifts He has given us. Rather than wishing we had life of someone else, we live the life God has blessed us with. God has given gifts to each of you from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Manage them well so that God’s generosity can flow through you (1 Peter 4:10; NLT). When we use the gifts God has given us we are expressing the gratitude we have towards God and we are allowing His generosity to flow through us into the lives of other people.

The third step in having a grateful life is living a life of love. We cannot be grateful to a person we do not love or care about. If we are going to be thankful to God for the gifts He has given, then we need to first love Him. Follow God’s example in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Live a life filled with love for others, following the example of Christ, who loved you and gave himself as a sacrifice to take away your sins. And God was pleased, because that sacrifice was like a sweet perfume to him (Ephesians 5:1,2; NLT). A life of love is a life lived in obedience to God’s Will. Paul states here that a life of love is a life which is pleasing to God. A grateful persons seeks to please the One who has blessed him.

God has given us the gift of love. Often in return we accept that love as if it is something that we deserve, rather than worshiping and thanking Him for His generosity. If we are going to be grateful we need to be humble, we need to be stewards, and we need to be lovers. That is how we show God, and the world, that we are thankful for His love.

Sunday Quote: Going to God in Gratitude

“Humility brings us to God not out of obligation but out of gratitude. When we humble ourselves we choose the place of least honor and allow God to call us to any role of servanthood He might desire. Humility begins with emptying ourselves so that we can receive from God all that we need for the journey.” ~ Erwin McManus, Stand Against the Wind; p. 34

Lonely Days and Grace

It has been one of those lonely days for me today. A day when it seems nobody really cares about you and you wonder if you suddenly disappeared if anyone would really notice. This isn't about romance as much as it is about fellowship. More than anything I would like to be with a group of people who are doing life together.

As I have felt this way today a passage kept coming to mind. The passage is 2 Corinthians 12:7-9. This is what the apostle Paul wrote:

So to keep me from being too elated by the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. (ESV)

"My grace is sufficient for you," God tells the Apostle. It is hard to trust on God's grace when life isn't what you planned it to be. That is what makes my current situation so difficult, is because I know this is where God wants me to be, but it isn't where I want to be. So I end up fighting God's grace, rather than relying on God's grace.

What is the answer? How do we rely on God's grace? I really wish I knew, but I have this thought that it probably begins with thanksgiving and praise, seeing the good rather than focusing on the bad.

How do you rely on God's grace in the thorny patches of life?

Gratitude and Perspective

Consider for a moment what Erwin McManus wrote in Uprising: A Revolution of the Soul:

Perspective is not shaped in a vacuum; it is formed in the context of gratitude. An ungrateful person sees the glass as half-empty and wonders who is holding out on him. The grateful see the glass as half-full knowing that someone has shared with them more than they deserve. (p. 124)

Gratitude plays such a huge part in the perspective we have on life. When we are grateful not only will we be content with much less, but we also have a very optimistic outlook. Contentment, peace, and hope are characteristics which define a person who is grateful.

It is hard to be grateful when the life you are living isn’t the life that you want. That is basically the story of my life. So much of my life has been wasted because I have been dissatisfied with my life, and I was angry with God for not giving me the life that I wanted to live. The question being asked in my heart was, “Why is God holding out on me?”

It is hard to live life when you want a different life: different experiences, different friends, different talents, different opportunities, and a different personality. You think life would be so much better if you had the life of someone else.

For me this has been one the many obstacles that I have to overcome in my journey to become the person God created me to be. The thing is it is an obstacle I have faced more than once. Like most temptations and sins that we face, this feeling of discontentment is one that keeps popping up in my life. Why do I have to struggle so hard to do what comes so naturally to others? It would be so much easier if I was... and other similar questions haunt my thoughts.

The problem with this thinking is that it ignores what God has done for me, and in the process it distracts me from living the life God created me to live. Gratitude for the blessings, experiences, and talents God has given me provides me with peace and assurance that I need to live the life God has planned for me to live.

Consider what the apostle Paul wrote about the result of the grateful heart:

6 Never worry about anything, but in every situation let your petitions be made known to God in prayers and requests, with thanksgiving. 7 Then God's peace, which goes far beyond anything we can imagine, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7; ISV)

God’s peace is given to those who are grateful. Worry, fear, and loneliness are some of the feelings the consume the hearts of the ungrateful. God has given each one of us so much. It is time for us to stop focusing on what we don’t have and start thanking God for what we do have. Then, and only then, do we experience the peace that God has promised to His children.

• Point to Ponder: When we are grateful not only will we be content with much less, but we also have a very optimistic outlook.
• Passage to Remember: Philippians 4:6-7
• Question to Consider: What are some of the things you are grateful for in your life?

The Wickedness of Ungraciousness

The last two days I have been working on personal devotions for a high school week of church camp. To help me write these I have turned to Stand Against the Wind by Erwin McManus. One of the thoughts that have struck me today is this: “To receive the grace of God and yet treat others ungraciously is an act of wickedness” (p. 41). Do we believe that?

I know that I don’t consider it wickedness when I ignore a request or when I treat another person with contempt. We are constantly acting ungraciously to other people, and we don’t even consider how graciously God has acted to us. When we lack the gratitude to appreciate what God has done for us we will, in turn, be ungracious to other people.

Seems to me that Jesus told a parable about this.

23 “That is why the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 When he had begun to settle the accounts, a person who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. 25 Because he couldn't pay, his master ordered him, his wife, his children, and all that he had to be sold so that payment could be made. 26 Then the servant fell down and bowed low before him, saying, ‘Be patient with me, and I will repay you everything!’ 27 The master of that servant had compassion and released him, canceling his debt. 28 “But when that servant went away, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him, seized him by the throat, and said, ‘Pay what you owe!’ 29 Then his fellow servant fell down and began begging him, ‘Be patient with me and I will repay you!’ 30 But he refused and went and had him thrown into prison until he could repay the debt. 31 “When his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were very disturbed and went and reported to their master all that had occurred. 32 Then his master sent for him and said to him, ‘You evil servant! I canceled that entire debt for you because you begged me. 33 Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he could repay the entire debt. 35 This is how my heavenly Father will treat each one of you unless you forgive your brother from your hearts.” (Matthew 18:23-35; ISV)

While the subject matter of the parable is forgiveness the principle can be applied to any of God’s gifts. If God has been gracious to us, and we are not gracious to other people we are living evil lives. I know that sounds harsh (in the preaching class I took in seminary I was told I shouldn’t use the word evil to describe such actions), but that is what God tells us.

When we are generous with God’s blessings, when we pass on His forgiveness and love, that is when we are reflecting His image. We need to remind ourselves that the blessings God has given us are not the things that we deserve, but are gifts given out of love. When we think God owes us we will not be grateful for what He has done and we will not be gracious to those around us. When we remember that God doesn’t give us what we deserve, but He blesses us out of His love for us, then we will seek to honor those gifts by becoming a blessing to those around us.

How we treat others and how we use the blessing of God is determined by our perspective. Are the blessings what are owed or are they gifts from God? Let us allows remember that God’s grace means we are not given what we deserve, but we are given the gifts of God’s love. May we share these gifts with those around us.

Thank God Through Worship

The Grateful Living: Part 5

In Luke 17:11-19 we read about an encounter Jesus had with 10 lepers. The lepers wanted Jesus to show compassion on them and help them in some way. The way Jesus helped them was to heal them of their disease. The nine Jewish lepers went to the priest to be declared clean, but the lone Samaritan came back to worship Jesus and say thank you. While the nine did a good thing it was the one who did the best thing.

Mark Moore in his study on the life of Christ wrote:

“Now, the nine are doing just what they were told. They are obeying Jesus as well as the Law. They are doing what is right. However, the Samaritan is doing what is better. That’s a tough distinction for Christians as well. Often we are motivated to do what is right, to obey, and to fulfill God’s laws. There is certainly nothing wrong with that, but the ‘better” is to worship Jesus. Again, we see the distinction between ritual and relationship. It is possible to do all the right things and still miss Jesus” (The Chronological Life of Christ: From Galilee to Glory, pg. 96).

Worshipping out of gratitude will help us, not only do the right things, but to connect with Jesus as well. The best is to worship.

It is interesting to note that the Jews never had a documented case of leprosy being healed, cured, without the direct action of God. So for Jesus to heal these lepers it means, at the very least, that He is a prophet from God. Only God can cure leprosy, no one else could.

One more interesting thing to note from this event in the life of Jesus is that Jesus not only heals the lepers, but He, being the great High Priest, also declares the man clean. “Your faith had made you well” (verse 19). The Samaritan didn’t need a priest declaration, for the true and everlasting High Priest had declared him clean. Another reason for the man to praise God.

God has blessed us so very much, and the greatest blessing He has given us is eternal life through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. If God never gave us any other blessing other than this it is enough to eternally worship Him. This blessing is so much greater than being cured of leprosy and being restored to the community and your family. Salvation is being restored to a relationship with our Creator, a relationship that cannot be severed or destroyed what a great and awesome gift this is.

This is the truth I want you to take with you this morning: Our gratitude for God is best expressed through worship. Not just singing a few hymns on Sunday morning, but our everyday living for Him. Not just acts of obedience, but prayers of thanksgiving, songs of praise, deeds of compassion, and using our blessing to be a blessing to others. That is when we do what is best in the eyes of God.

• Point to Ponder: Our gratitude for God is best expressed through worship.
• Passage to Remember: Luke 17:19
• Question to Consider: How do you thank God for what He has done?

Overflowing Gratitude

The Grateful Living: Part 4

In part three I pointed out that the nine Jewish lepers who were healed by Jesus responded to Jesus’ compassion through obedience. Obedience is certainly a good way to respond, but it doesn’t necessarily reflect the gratitude and love that is in our heart. There is a better way to respond to God’s love.

The best response to God’s love is to worship from gratitude.

15 But one of them, when he saw that he was healed, came back and praised God with a loud voice. 16 He fell on his face at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. Now the man was a Samaritan. (Luke 17: 15-16; ISV)

I wonder how far these lepers got before healing over took them. Did it happen immediately as they turned to find the priests? Did it take a few steps? Did they go a mile or two?

Not only that, but what was their reaction when they realized that their curse had been cured, that no longer did they have to leave the life of a person who was regarded as dead? Did the dance and yell? Did they give high fives to one another? Did the hug their brothers? Again we don’t know, all we know is that one lifted his voice to thank God. The amazing thing is that it was the Samaritan, rather than the Jews, who properly thanked God for what happened.

I also wonder if part of the Samaritan’s reaction was due to the fact that he was a Samaritan, and therefore was stuck with a double curse. Not only did he have to deal with the leprosy, but he also had to deal with the rejection for being a half-breed. The ancestors of the Samaritans were Jews who mixed with Gentiles during the exile and Greek occupation of Jewish history. So while they still considered themselves descendants of Abraham and Jacob, and still worshiped God, they were considered foreigners by the Jews. They couldn’t worship in the Temple like the Jews did, and therefore they modified Judaism to fit their situation. So even if this man didn’t have leprosy he would have been told by the Jews that he was worthless and that God didn’t love him.

Could you imagine then his reaction when he was healed just like his Jewish companions. What would he have realized? That God loved him just like He loved the Jews. This is probably one of the reasons Luke uses this story, since the biggest problem the early church had was racism, a reminder to all Christians that God loves everyone, it isn’t about race. What is important is a person faith demonstrated through their love for God and people.

When this man is healed he gives way to the joy that is in his heart and he thanks the one person who had the power to heal him: Jesus. The Samaritan knew that his healing was supernatural and he knew that Jesus was responsible for it.

Are we as quick to thank God for the blessings that come into our lives? I know that I am terrible at overlooking God’s work in my life and attributing blessings to my own hard work or the generosity of others. The result is that I don’t thank God they way that I should. We have to remember that everything that we have been given comes from God.

Peter reminds us:

{2}May grace and peace be lavished on you as you grow in the rich knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord! {3}I can pray this because his divine power has bestowed on us everything necessary for life and godliness through the rich knowledge of the one who called us by his own glory and excellence. {4} Through these things he has bestowed on us his precious and most magnificent promises, so that by means of what was promised you may become partakers of the divine nature, after escaping the worldly corruption that is produced by evil desire. (2 Peter 1:2-4; NET)

God gives us wonderful gifts for the purpose of growing us into the people He created us to be. He wants us to escape the sin and the decay of this corrupted world and share in the eternal life He has prepared for us. Our destiny isn’t death but life, and that should fill us with gratitude.

This gift of life isn’t something we have earned, but something God has freely given to us. Since this is the case how can we respond in any other way other than worship? While obedience is a better way to respond to God, to worship is the best way we can respond to God’s gift.

• Point to Ponder: While obedience is a better way to respond to God, to worship is the best way we can respond to God’s gift.
• Passage to Remember: 2 Peter 1:2-4
• Question to Consider: How quick are you to praise God for the blessings of your life?

Doing Our Duty

The Grateful Living: Part 3

Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem to face betrayal, beating, and crucifixion when 10 lepers plead for help. Showing compassion Jesus healed the 10 lepers, but only one of the lepers came back to thank Jesus and worship Him (Luke 17:11-19). What can we learn from the two distinct responses to Jesus’ healing?

The first response is obedience to ritual. Luke 17:14 reads; When he saw them, he told them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” While they were going, they were made clean (ISV).

To be honest with you it is hard for me to find fault the nine Jews had. After all they were obeying. They were not only obeying Jesus, but they were also obeying the Law God had given through Moses. For these men to be declared clean it was essential for them to be examined by a priest. Shouldn’t Jesus praise these men for their obedience and question the one for his lack of obedience? On the surface this is difficult to figure out.

Here is the problem with obedience, is especially to religious rituals. It can make us believe we have earned the blessings God has given us. In other words God’s blessings, in our minds, cease to be gifts, and become what we are owed.

This is what C.S. Lewis had to say about obedience to religious rituals:

“One mustn’t make the Christian life into a punctilious (meticulous) system of law, like the Jewish, [for] two reasons. (1) It raises scruples (second thoughts) when we don’t keep the routine. (2) It raises presumption when we do. Nothing gives one a more spuriously good conscience than keeping the rules, even if there has been a total absence of all real charity and faith” (Letters to an American Lady, pg. 38; The Joyful Christian, pg. 80).

It is entirely possibly that these nine Jews felt they were owed healing because of their obedience. Rather than being grateful they were getting what they were owed. That is why they didn’t return to Jesus to say thanks because they had finally been given what they deserved.

We have to guard ourselves against such thinking. God doesn’t owe us anything because we come to Worship Service on Sunday morning, on the Church Board, or give a small percentage of our income to His Kingdom. If all we did was perfectly obeyed then all we would be doing is what is expected from us.

If we take a look at the few verses that precede our text this morning we discover the Jesus taught about this very thing:

{7}"Would any one of you say to your slave who comes in from the field after plowing or shepherding sheep, 'Come at once and sit down for a meal'? {8} Won't the master instead say to him, 'Get my dinner ready, and make yourself ready to serve me while I eat and drink. Then you may eat and drink'? {9} He won't thank the slave because he did what he was told, will he? {10}So you too, when you have done everything you were commanded to do, should say, 'We are slaves undeserving of special praise; we have only done what was our duty.'" (Luke 17:7-10; NET)

While God desires our obedience, especially when it is done out of faith and love, that doesn’t mean God owes us anything because we have obeyed. Obedience is simply the duty that is expected from us.

The problem with the nine isn’t that they obeyed, but they lacked the real love for their Creator and Healer to take time to worship Him for the wonderful gift He had blessed them with. If all we do is obey God and never take the time to worship Him from the gratitude that has welled up in our hearts then we have settled for the good and missed the best.

• Point to Ponder: Obedience is simply the duty that is expected from us.
• Passage to Remember: Luke 17:7-10
• Question to Consider: Are you doing your duty?

Reason for Thanksgiving

The Grateful Living: Part 2

In part 1 we looked at how ingratitude is part of the human condition. No matter what God has done for us in the past it always seems that we take a “what have you done for me lately approach”. Humans are just not very grateful.

Thanksgiving should be a mark of a follower of Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul wrote:

6 So then, just as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live in him. 7 For you have been rooted in him and are being built up and strengthened in the faith, just as you were taught, while you overflow with thanksgiving. (Colossians 2:6-7; ISV)

We should be thankful for all that God has done for us through Jesus Christ. Even if God doesn’t do another single thing for us besides what He has already done we have enough to be eternally grateful.

I ended part 1 with the encounter Jesus had with 10 lepers. Since this is what will be the foundation for what I have to say about gratitude let me provide you with some context for what is happening in Luke 17:11-19.

After the raising of Lazarus the Sanhedrin has made it clear that Jesus is to be arrested. Jesus is aware that His time hasn’t arrived so He moves toward Galilee and further away from the influence of the Sanhedrin. There he spends time laying low in a village called Ephraim, but now spring has arrived and Jesus begins the journey back to Jerusalem for the final time. This marks Jesus’ final teaching tour and a large crowd follows him from Ephraim down to Jerusalem.

Traveling between Galilee and Samaria, Jesus is about to enter one the the border villages when he is hailed by a group of lepers. It appears that in this group there were nine Jews and one Samaritan. Ordinarily the Jews would not have been seen with a Samaritan, but their common fate has brought them together. (Mark Moore, pg. 95, The Chronological Life of Christ: From Galilee to Glory)

In Leviticus 13 God provided to Israel the regulations for dealing with those people with leprosy. But from there religious leaders, rabbis, and scholars added to what God had said.

Leprosy was not merely the emblem of sin, but of death, to which, so to speak, it stood related, as does our actual sinfulness to our state of sin and death before God. Even a Rabbinical saying ranks lepers with those who may be regarded as dead. They were excluded from the ‘camp of Israel,’ by which, in later times, the Talmudists understood all cities walled since the days of Joshua, who was supposed to have sanctified them. Lepers were not allowed to go beyond their proper bounds, on pain of forty stripes. For every place a leper entered was supposed to be defiled. They were, however, admitted to the synagogues, where a place was railed off for them, ten handbreadths high and four cubits wide, on the condition of their entering the house of worship before the rest of the congregation, and leaving it after them. (The Temple: Its Ministry and Services, Alfred Edersheim, pg. 286)

True, as wrapped in mourner’s garb the leper passed by, his cry “Unclean!” was to incite others to pray for him--but also to avoid him. No one was even to salute him; his bed was to be low, inclining towards the ground. If he even put his head into a place, it became unclean. No less a distance than four cubits (six feet) must be kept from a leper; or, if the wind came from that direction, a hundred were scarcely sufficient. Rabbi Meir would not eat an egg purchased in a street where there was a leper. Another Rabbi boasted, that he always threw stones at them to keep them far off, while others hid themselves or ran away. (The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, pg. 342, Alfred Edersheim)

So once again we see that our Lord’s response to Lepers was not the typical response. He listened to their plea rather than running them off. He had compassion on them rather than judging them (since leprosy was thought to be a sign of some terrible sin). He healed them rather than ignoring them.

These lepers demonstrate faith. Not only do the appeal to Jesus for help, but they leave to show themselves to a priest before they were healed. It is only after they respond in faith that they were healed. In part 3 we will explore the first of the two different responses to they lepers had to this remarkable gift.

Point to Ponder: Thanksgiving should be a mark of a follower of Jesus Christ.
Passage to Remember: Colossians 2:6, 7
Question to Consider: Why should you be grateful to God?

A Lack of Appreciation

The Grateful Living: Part 1

From my point of view, Israel complaining in the desert after being freedom from slavery is an amazing thing. They have witnessed God’s power through the plagues visited upon Egypt and the parting of the Red Sea, and yet when things got difficult with food and water instead of trusting God they complained. They were very much people whose gratitude depended on what have you done for me lately. Freedom wasn’t enough to get them to worship and trust God, they demanded that God had to continue to do the miraculous in order for them to worship God.

We can look back on Israel and judge them for their lack of faith and ingratitude, but are we much different? Do we thank God for saving us from our sins or do we demand that He proves Himself over and over again? Would we continue to worship God even if He didn’t bless us anymore? I don’t know about you, but I think I am very much like Israel. I have had a time in my life when I was ready to turn my back on God when He didn’t come through in the way I thought He should. Rather than focusing on the blessings of my life I focused on the problems and as a result I was ungrateful for the life God has given me. Here is the question I have for you to consider: How are you showing your gratitude to God?

The Christmas of 2003 my family, at the suggestion of my brother Tom, went in and bought me a single Christmas present. The bought me a replica of Sting. Sting is the sword Frodo Baggins used in the epic story The Lord of the Rings. This is one of my favorite present that I have ever received (another gift that is one of my favorites is the picture my girlfriend gave me for Christmas this past year). Not only because I am a fan of The Lord of the Rings, but because it also symbolizes the fact that I am on a journey, a quest, that is bigger than I am and the real reason my brother wanted to give it to me for Christmas.

Because my entire family went in on this one gift that Christmas as everyone else is opening their presents I sat there thinking: “Isn’t there more, is this all I get?” I loved the gift, but I wanted more. Ingratitude showed its ugly head and made it hard for me to truly appreciate what I had been given. Like Israel I wanted more.

How ungrateful are you? Consider the following story:

There is something about our condition that make it difficult to thank others. Consider Edward Spencer. Edward Spencer was a ministry student at Northwestern University near Chicago who also was a member of a life-saving team who would assist passengers on Lake Michigan boats. On September 8, 1860, the Lady Elgin floundered near the campus of Northwestern and Edward Spencer risked his life and personally rescued seventeen people. The exposure from the frigid waters from that rescue mission permanently damaged Edward’s health and he was unable to continue to prepare for the ministry. Some years later when he died, it was noted that not one of the seventeen people he saved ever came back to thank him (pg. 410, 1001 Great Stories and Quotes)

This ingratitude is not a generational thing but it is a human thing. For whatever reason, whether we think it is what we deserve or just don’t know how to respond, we never take the time to thank those who help us. Jesus experienced the ingratitude from the people He healed. Take a look at what happened when Jesus healed 10 men infected with leprosy:

11 One day, Jesus was traveling along the border between Samaria and Galilee on the way to Jerusalem. 12 As he was going into a village, ten lepers met him. They stood at a distance 13 and shouted, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”

14 When he saw them, he told them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” While they were going, they were made clean. 15 But one of them, when he saw that he was healed, came back and praised God with a loud voice. 16 He fell on his face at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. Now the man was a Samaritan.

17 Jesus asked, “Ten men were made clean, weren't they? Where are the other nine? 18 Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 Then he told the man, “Get up, and go home! Your faith has made you well.” (Luke 17:11-19; ISV)

Amazing! Only one of the ten men returned to Jesus to worship Him. How easy it is to sit here and judge the nine, but the reality is that we are much more like the nine than we care to admit. We ask God to do things for us, and then we neglect to thank Him when He works in our lives. We need to examine our lives rather than judge the examples of others.

• Point to Ponder: Ingratitude is not a generational thing but it is a human thing.
• Passage to Remember: Luke 17:11-19
• Question to Consider: How are you showing your gratitude to God?