Until recently I had not given much thought to the importance of gratitude. Yesterday’s devotional gave us a picture of the stark contrast between the WISDOM of thankfulness and the FOOLISHNESS of UNthankfulness. I’m GRATEFUL God has been faithfully impressing this lesson into my heart and mind.
You see, we are created in God’s image and we are designed to THRIVE when we are humble, holy, and thankful.
When we are arrogant, immoral, and ungrateful, we cannot have fellowship with God, nor can we experience all it means to be created in His image. Jesus reminded us that we MUST have the mindset of children in our relationship with God—acknowledging our COMPLETE dependence upon HIM.
“I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 18:3-4 NKJV
Children have no assets of their own and VERY LITTLE wisdom and knowledge to survive without a parent or guardian. They are completely dependent for their food, safety, clothing, health, education, love, growth, and—everything they need to exist, thrive, and be satisfied. My friend, we are not any different in relation to God. Sadly, our arrogance, dissatisfaction, and independence destroy our childlike spirit and take us from the presence of God.
Thankfulness is one of God’s brilliant directives to keep us out of the dark dungeon of our enemy.
A heart of thankfulness keeps our heart in childlike dependence upon our wise Heavenly Father—who is the Giver of ALL the goodness we enjoy.
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.”
James 1:17 NKJV
God repeatedly COMMANDS us to be thankful and warns us that ingratitude is a sin with severe repercussions. If you don’t know the repercussions of unthankfulness, just read Romans 1:18-32 which provides a detailed description of the downfall of a person or a society. Ungratefulness to GOD—leads to ultimate destruction.
Thankfulness begins by acknowledging God—not just as some generalized power or “the man upstairs”; rather, as the ONE who rules our heart and lives and to whom we acknowledge has given us the very air we breathe. With the gifts God gives us we either give Him thanks, or we curse Him. But remember, unthankfulness is such a dangerous game.
When we are unthankful towards God—we have become our own god.
What does the world look like when we, as a society, have no one to thank and are convinced of our own supremacy? The Bible says:
“But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!”
2 Timothy 3:1-5 NKJV
Doesn’t that sound like our world—right now? Ah, but the simple truth of God’s Word reminds us of how completely dependent we are upon Him:
“And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you BOAST as if you had NOT RECEIVED it?”
1 Corinthians 4:7 NKJV
We are nothing without God. No human has ever created anything from nothing. Only God. We are in DESPERATE need of Him. Ingratitude towards God results in the hardening of our hearts to the point that we no longer see God as the source of ALL our gifts. Upon rejecting our greatest gift (which is also our greatest need)—a relationship with Him—then we become a law unto ourselves. Today, we see our culture crumbling under the weight of people who have chosen to be a law unto themselves. When we are on the throne of our life—nothing is off limits to our pursuit of pleasure. Our unthankfulness towards God drives us to act blindly foolish and unthinkably wicked. (See Romans 1:18-32)
God takes such a strong stance against unthankfulness and ingratitude because He loves us and knows that it will destroy us.
Thankfulness is a strong tower to guard us from idolatry and pride. If we want to begin to reap all the benefits of thankfulness, then today, this Thanksgiving Day, is a great time to begin. Not only should we stop and give thanks; but we should intentionally develop a heart of thankfulness. It should be our general attitude. Thankfulness should permeate our thoughts, our words, and our actions. The more we train ourselves to be thankful, the more we are filled with God’s presence.
We ALL appreciate thankfulness; GOD is no exception.
We would love to hear your thoughts about this devotional. Did God speak to you or challenge your daily walk with him? Or is there a topic that you would like Kimberly to cover or expound on? Please share with us in the comments below.
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2 Responses
We are to enter His gates with thanksgiving and praise. All praise be to our Father God!
Thank you for sharing! Have a blessed Thanksgiving!