Ungrateful People
When I meditate on the goodness of God, I can’t help but remember the multitudes of stories found in the Bible for us to learn from. I am so glad God has given us His Word in the form of a book. There is a story I want to that can reveal to you the heart of God. You see, He loves it when we are grateful.
Luke 17:12-16 (NKJV)
12 Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off.
13 And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
14 So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed.
15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God,
16 and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan.
One of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned…
This story bothers me a lot. It bothers me knowing how gracious God is towards us, yet we often fail to thank Him for what He has done for us. If it bothers me, how much more does it bother Him? This story shows the gratitude of one man’s heart toward the Son of God. There stood Jesus, who had just done the will of God for the ten lepers, and he watched as the nine wandered off never recognizing what He had done for them.
As a pastor, I have laid my hands on many people in healing. More often than not, the person receiving their miracle never bothers to thank God. I usually have to remind them to do so. It is one of the issue of the sin within, and its name is ungratefulness. That spirit leads us to forget to thank the One who just moved in our lives.
What about your relationships with others? If you can’t thank God for what He is doing in your life, what about with those who love you in the physical world? Honestly, your gratitude should begin with God, and over flow to your fellow human beings. Jump up and down, and tell Him how awesome He is. Oh, how God longs for us to have a right heart with Him.
There is another story in the Bible that points this out. Jonah had been put through the paces with God because he refused to prophesize over Nineveh. After God taught him a lesson for his disobedience, He then blessed Johan. Let me show you.
Jonah 4:6 (NKJV)
6 And the LORD God prepared a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be shade for his head to deliver him from his misery. So Jonah was very grateful for the plant.
I have read this story many times, and what I notice every time is that Jonah wasn’t grateful for what God had done but for the plant. Let me show you what God did as a result of Jonah’s lousy attitude.
Jonah 4:7 (NKJV)
7 But as morning dawned the next day God prepared a worm, and it so damaged the plant that it withered.
I wonder how many times God has done something for you, and you refused to acknowledge the gift? More, I wonder what God did as a result of that error? You see, God hasn’t changed throughout history.
Malachi 3:6 (NKJV)
6 “For I am the LORD, I do not change;
Hebrews 13:8 (NKJV)
8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Today, the body of Christ likes to talk about the loving God who would never bring harm to anyone. The truth is that God is still God, and He will do whatever He pleases. He raises us up and takes us down at His will. We are silly, when we live as if God would never bring harm to us. That is purely false theology. If you want to know the truth of the story, you might read what God is planning to do in the book of Revelation. Jesus told us about the wrath of God. We need to wake up and stop being a whining, ungrateful people.
The greatest truth I can teach, in this article is this:
Fear the Lord your God. Fear God and Live… Be grateful.
With the love of a pastor towards you,
Jeff
