The Struggle against Gratitude

Colossians 4:2 Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.

The hardest work in my life is fostering true gratitude in my kids. My wife and I may be partly to blame for that as we have given them a little too much. Maybe some of you can relate. There is nothing more embarrasing as a parent than for someone to give your kid a gift and watch them accept the gift, yet not acknowledge gratitude or even ignore the giver all together. When I examine my own heart, I feel this same struggle in my relation to Christ. There seems to be this born in self centeredness that sin has embedded in us that falsely tells us that we "deserve" everything good we get, and we don't deserve all the bad things that come our way.

I have a question for you. When is the last time you stopped and in a heartfelt way spent passionate time thanking God for the privilege of knowing and communing with Him and with no other thought? That is what Paul is driving at here. God is the gift of the Gospel. Our restoration to him is the effect of the Gospel, and our tendency is to under appreciate it greatly.

In our distracted, complex world we can easily think that we need to kind of put that basic stuff like appreciating God in the rear view mirror, and move on to seemingly more important "stuff" like who are the two witnesses in Revelation, or the timing of the rapture of God's church. That train of thoughts can miss experiencing God altogether. So let's strive to enjoy God today in a new and fresh way. Let's not be like the four year old at Christmas who takes a gift given by grace and at an expense, and toddle off in a different direction to hoard the gift. Let's run to our savior in prayer with nothing but thanksgiving in our hearts. It will honor God and deeply satisfy our souls.

Please don't read this and not take time to enjoy the father's embrace.