Last week, when I was in the throes of the chemical poisons in my body it occurred to me that I have taken a number of God's gifts to me for granted. That phrase, "taking things for granted" means that I did not recognize certain things as gifts nor did I feel grateful for them nor did I express thanksgiving to God for them.
I think it is important to say something about what we mean when we say that something is a gift. Gifts are freely given, that is, a true gift is not a payment or the fulfilling of an obligation. God does not owe me anything. He is not obligated to give me anything good. When God gives a gift he does it because of who he is not because of who we are. To describe a gift from the recipients side, it means we do not deserve the gifts we receive. A gift is not something we have earned or merited in some way. A true gift is unexpected by the recipient. I am surprised by that which is truly a gift.
There are three gifts which I daily and weekly experienced for decades and for which I was not grateful: good health, appetite for food and sleep. I recognized these gifts and my lack of gratitude for them last week because I did not experience them last week. I felt sick from Wednesday through Sunday. I had no appetite for food at all until this past Monday. I did not sleep through the night until last night.
For decades, each of these things was a gift from God to me which I did nothing to deserve or earn. Let me give you a few statements from the Bible that confirm that all these things are gifts from God.
Acts 17:25 "he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything..."
1 Corinthians 4:7 "What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?"
Psalm 127:2, "It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep."
Ecclesiastes 5:19, "Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil--this is the gift of God."
Acts 14:17 "...for he (God) did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.
Today is the first day since last Monday that I have felt "myself." In other words I am enjoying good health and an appetite and sleep . What I find is that because this is my normal condition I expect it and am not grateful for it. Being sick and no appetite and no ability to sleep and no conversation is not normal and thus I am surprised by the lack, the suffering, more than I am surprised by the gifts.
What shall I do? First, it is very important to realize that ingratitude, a lack of thanks to God, is one of the chief evidences of the sinfulness of human beings (Romans 1:20-21). Thus, not giving thanks is a wicked sin which must be confessed as such. Then I must trust that Christ suffered and died even for this ingratitude. My ingratitude is forgiven because Christ has suffered the hell I deserve for my ingratitude. Finally, I must resist and put to death my ingratitude and seek the help of the Holy Spirit to give to me a truly grateful heart which produces actual prayers of thanksgiving.
1 comment:
You are correct, John. We do not honor Him or gives thanks to Him although His eternal power and divine nature are clearly evident in what He has made (and given us). Thanks for writing this.
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