Unthankfulness
Hello,
Chapter 10 of Respectable Sins by Jerry Bridges talks about unthankfulness. Unthankfulness is something that in this world is done often. How many times have you gone throughout your day and been too busy to thank God for the blessings in your life? How many times have you assumed someone would do something for you and didn’t thank them for that? How many times have you assumed that you would make it home safely? In the world, we live today we are always moving around 100 miles an hour and sometimes forget to just stop and be thankful. In this world, we have many things to be thankful for such as our freedom, food on our tables, the ability to worship the Lord publicly. Not everyone has those abilities. Even the little things like being able to have a car to get to work that often become the routine of the day it is very easy to forget to be thankful for those small things.
As all of you may know, in the last couple of weeks Ukraine has been invaded by Russia. This is something that I know at my school we have been praying for and as a nation, we have been praying for it to stop and to keep everyone safe. When terrible things are happening we as Christians must pray for those involved. When we are going through hard times we must still be thankful for what we have. Now I know that reading that is easier than actually praying and thanking God during a hard time. Being able to see the light at the end of a very dark tunnel is not an easy task. When we can set our eyes on God rather than the world falling around us that light gets bigger.
The situation in Ukraine is a very sad and hard situation. According to The New York Times, “Russian forces laid siege to urban areas across Ukraine on Thursday, hitting apartment buildings, pharmacies, and a hospital, as the Kremlin’s grinding offensive surrounded southern cities and drove thousands of refugees toward western borders.” (NYT) The individuals involved in this are getting their homes bombed, their towns destroyed. It is hard to be thankful when everything in your life is falling apart. We are still commanded to be thankful for the things from the Lord. There are some days that are harder than others to be thankful for what the Lord has given us.
In this world of violence and sin, it’s important that we remember to be thankful for everything that the Lord has given us. Bridges state that “we should give thanks always and for everything we should especially give thanks when we have experience in unusual provision from God or deliverance from some difficult circumstance.”(Bridges) Bridges also state “that part of believing the Bible and the word of God is to give thanks for him always and for everything”(Bridges). Bridges is making the point and connection that no matter what is going on with our lives we are being blessed by God and we need to remember to be thankful for that and owner God by giving thanks to him.
There are many verses in the Bible that point us to how we should show thankfulness for what the Lord has given us. One is Romans 1:21, this verse states that “although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give things to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened”. (NIV) Another verse is Luke 12:48, “everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required.”(NIV) Ephesians 5:20 states that “give thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ”.(NIV) In this verse, it’s very important that we take into consideration the word always and everything. This is showing us the Lord wants us to be thankful for everything and always. From the small things to the big things we need to always show our thankfulness to the one who has given us everything.
So, friends, I challenge you how can we practice more thankfulness in our lives? Is there a space in your life where you could improve on this? For me, it’s important that I praise God and give Him thanks for everything from being able to eat food for breakfast to getting over my biggest mountains. God is always with us in the little things and the big things and it is important that we are thankful for that.
Resources
Bridges, Jerry. “10.” Respectable Sins, NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO, 2017.
Holy Bible: New International Version. Zondervan, 2017.
