Thankful to God for greatest gift ever
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Faith Fitness
Bro. Sam Kaufman
Most people are taught as youngsters to provide responses of etiquette as expressions of respect or gratitude.
In the South, a lot of kiddos learn from an early age to say, “Yes, sir,” or “Yes, ma’am.”
There are those children who say those phrases because they know it is proper to use that terminology. However, it is very evident that they are providing mere lip service.
In essence, they know what to say, but it does not stem from a genuine show of respect.
In our house, when the kids act up, and they need a good talking to, we’ll ask them to address us as “Yes, sir” and “Yes, ma’am.”
Me: “You got that, Abraham?”
Abraham: “Yes, I got it.”
Me: “Yes, what?”
Abraham: “Yes, sir.”
One thing I don’t like about getting older is that many address me as “sir.” The first time I heard that was when I attended a wedding in my late 20s or early 30s. One of the late teens called me “sir,” and me and my buddy just laughed.
Another term we learn from an early age to say is “thank you” when someone does something for us.
One time when I was young it appeared that I was ungrateful or not thankful for something someone did for me because I didn’t verbally express it.
But that wasn’t the case at all. I was just very shy at that moment and was kind of scared to say anything.
Something went wrong with my bicycle and my neighbor friend’s dad fixed it for me.
I remember they had an in-ground swimming pool, and we were outside by the pool when he fixed it. I was intimidated to say anything.
Later, my friend said his dad was disappointed that I didn’t even thank him for fixing my bike. I felt bad because I really was thankful, but I didn’t say that to him.
On the flip side, people many times aren’t truly grateful for what they receive and they don’t say they are.
We never want to be unthankful for what God has done for us. He has provided so much. Our very existence comes from God.
The Bible tells us that in God, we live and move and have our being.
Some don’t recognize that. They say we come from monkeys! If that’s the case, and evolution is correct, why are there still monkeys?
Sometimes I refer to children as monkeys, but that’s not literal – it’s just because they are acting like wild banshees.
In disproving the evolution theory (sorry Darwin, not sorry), I Corinthians 15:39 reveals that even the physical makeup of man and animals is quite different.
“All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.”
Anyhow, it is not good to be unthankful to the Creator.
There are examples of that in scripture, and it is not pretty.
“Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened…”
Why wouldn’t we be thankful to God for what He has done?
Some apparently are quick to forget the specific acts of God toward them. But many people are in a constant state of providing thanksgiving to God through a grateful heart.
We typically thank someone who gives us something – be it a candy bar, a bag of chips, a Coke, or a salad or apple.
God created us and has given us life. It goes way deeper than that with spiritual life – even after we disobeyed Him.
The Bible reveals that in one instance, 10 lepers approached Jesus for healing. There was no cure for leprosy.
Jesus healed all 10.
However, only one of the 10 returned to give thanks to God. Jesus asked where the other nine were.
It was a miraculous healing through God they received. All of them should have worshiped and thanked God for their healing.
It is one thing to receive physical healing, which is a tremendous blessing, but the salvation of our souls through Jesus’ blood takes it to a much larger level.
In salvation, we escape eternity in the Lake of Fire and obtain heaven with God as a home.
God – the Father, Son and Holy Ghost – deserves our continual thanksgiving for the greatest gift ever.
