Wednesday, November 25, 2015
Not surprisingly, there are many “self-made” people in the world who think that they are solely responsible for everything they have ever gotten in life. God’s incessantly griping people in the days of Moses’ leadership were like that. It was not enough that God supplied their needs, watched over them, and fed them when they were on their way to Canaan, they wanted something other than just the manna He sent them from heaven every day. They wanted to go back to Egypt because, said they: “We remember the fish we ate in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic.” (Numbers 11:5) As is the case with all ungrateful people, these folks had a bad memory too. They had forgotten the enslavement they had suffered in Egypt and how they had cried out to God to get them out. They also ignorantly accredited Egypt for all these vegetables they now ardently yearned for, not realizing it was God who had provided them all along.
Mrs. Green thanked the grocery boy, for delivering a loaf of bread. “Do not thank me” he said “thank Grocer Jones, he gave me the loaf to deliver.” But when she thanked the grocer, he said, “I get the bread from baker Brown. He makes it, so he deserves the thanks.” So Mrs. Green thanked the baker, but he told her that miller Milligan should be given the gratitude. “Without miller Milligan's flour, I could not make bread”, Mr. Brown replied. The miller told her to thank farmer Foster because he made the flour from Foster's wheat, but the farmer also protested, “Don't thank me; thank God.” “If He did not give my farm sunshine and rain, I could not grow wheat.” So you see, even a common loaf of bread can be traced back to God. James 1:17 says that “every good and perfect gift is from above.” (God)
Next time you hear someone say that everything they have ever gotten was due to hard work and the sweat from their own brow, gently remind them that were it not for God’s mercy and goodness, they would not even be able to get out of bed every morning. Were it not for Him, neither would they have the knowledge, intelligence, or strength to do what they do. In fact, were it not for God, they wouldn’t even be able to sweat. Without it, our bodies would not be air conditioned and we would not be able to continue on in our work. Without a doubt, we have to be thankful, especially to God.
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.”
