Yesterday’s devotional expressed her feeling that more people would have been blessed if they have known that gratitude is thankfulness. This statement is buttressed with a quote from one Melody Beattie that says: “Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn meal into feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.” What a powerful saying! If all Christians understand what this quote is saying, they can turn the whole world into heaven-kind of abode by showing gratitude to God and fellow human by being thankful every day.
A back throw to the Israeli show of ingratitude. God delivered the Israelites from slavery in Egypt after 40 years of servitude. Along their ways to the Promised Land, God would send them free food and meat. When they were to die of thirst, God gave them water from the rock. With these and many more, the Israelites should have been very grateful to God. Soon after God destroyed the people of Canaanites for Israelites to go and occupy their land, the Israelites complained bitterly when God took them from Mount Hor to the Red Sea so as to avoid the land of Edom. This angered God that He sent fiery serpent among the people. Many of them died of the snake bit instantly (Numb. 21: 1 – 6).
Till date, the world is saturated with ingratitude that has culminated to people not being thankful. God still give free water and air, two most needs of humanity, yet we are unthankful. Many human beings fasted and prayed for a life partner and God gave them. Soon after the wedding they dropped from God. Ingratitude! It is no longer a surprise to Pastors in church seeing someone who came for prayers so as to win contracts involving huge amount of money. The moment the prayer is answered, that individual disappeared from the church. It is a show of foolishness seeing someone saved from a ghastly accident by shouting “Jesus” who stopped from being a Christian after that, offended with God for allowing him witnessed the accident in the first place. The list is inexhaustible! Gratitude would have been exercised in all the cases mentioned above and translated to thankfulness.
PRAYER:
BLESSED FATHER, going to bed and getting up the following day on daily bases is your great and wonderful work for me; I sincerely return the appreciation to you now in Jesus name.
bishopubaudenyi@hopealivechurch.