Monday, November 23, 2015
Generosity is one of the characteristic traits of people who are genuinely thankful. In fact, I believe that thankfulness and generosity go together just like goodness and mercy. Psalm 50:14 says: “Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High.” To me, the picture is clear: We give because we are thankful. We see the process also in love and in forgiveness: Because we have received them of God, with grateful hearts we want to pass them on. On the other hand, ingratitude is one of the characteristics of wicked people. Concerning those upon whom God’s wrath has been unleashed, Romans 1:21 says: “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.”
I want to share with you the following illustration from an old, old collection, titled “Thankfulness Comes From The Heart.” : [[A young girl sat at the counter of an ice cream store. "How much is an ice cream sundae?" she asked "Fifty cents," the waitress said with hardly a glance at the child. The girl opened her fist and looked at her coins. She asked, "How much is a dish of just plain ice cream?" Annoyed, the waitress snapped, "Thirty-five cents!" The girl counted out 35 cents and handed it to the waitress, saying "I'll take the plain ice cream." The waitress took the money without a word and brought the ice cream. After the small customer had eaten and left, the waitress, cleaning up, suddenly flushed with shame. There, placed neatly beside the dish were two nickels and five pennies, her tip.]]
The truth is that the gratitude, thoughtfulness, and generosity that genuinely thankful people continually display, often puts others to shame. Lets not permit others to shame us in that manner. In fact, shame should not be our main motivation to be thoughtful and generous, true thankfulness to God should. Though Thanksgiving Day is three days from now, and though we should be thankful every single day, lets focus on being especially thankful all throughout this week.
Memory verse for the week: 1 Thessalonians 5:18: “In everything give thanks. For this is the will of God, in Christ Jesus, concerning you.”
