To the end that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever.
Psalm 30:12 (NKJV)
Thought for today: The framed needlepoint on the wall had the quote "Silence is golden." Maybe years ago, when his house was full of growing children, Jim would have thought that. Now, he sits alone most days even though his wife Mary is living with him. The deafening silence around him is in stark contrast to the myriad of thoughts running through the halls of his mind. You see, ungratefulness can lead one down a road that one never thought possible.
Mary was once Jim's precious treasure. Yet, as time rolled on, he became less grateful and more critical. The pressure of raising six children and not being able to agree on a set of defining principles wore at them and caused them to drift apart. Now, sadly, they look at each other more as someone that they are stuck with rather than a gift from God, someone with whom to share life.
Sadly, in our busyness, we can become ungrateful. Sometimes, the ungratefulness is very visible to us and perhaps to those around us. Other times, we can nurture a secret ungratefulness that is an irritant to our souls. The later is by far the more dangerous, since we may not even be aware of the ungratefulness until it is too late.
So, how do we deal with ungratefulness? Recognize it for what it is: sin, plain and simple. Have you ever given a gift to someone, thinking that it was the perfect gift just to find out on a visit to their house that the gift was never used or, worse yet, given away as a gift so someone else? Think about how much of a slap on the face it must be to our Lord when we are not grateful for what we He has given. Would we dare tell him to His face that the gift is not what we wanted? No, probably not. Yet, in attitude we are effectively saying this to our most loving Lord.
What are you ungrateful for? Perhaps you have a strained relationship and think that it has caused you such a burden, dragged you down. Perhaps your spouse is not the person who you thought he or she would be. Maybe you are ungrateful for not having all that you want. The only way to fix this is to cultivate an attitude of gratitude. As David wrote in the verse above, forever be thankful and sing praise to the Lord. This day, will you thank Him for all that you have in your life, even the things that you think should be different and the things that you wish you did not have?
Heavenly Father, please forgive us for our attitudes of ingratitude. You give us wonderful, bountiful gifts. Yet, we tell you that they are not enough. You who know our every need indeed does supply just enough at the right time. You are a God who uses everything to shape us and make us become like You. This day, may we be thankful for all that you have done, are doing and will do for us. Amen.
