Minister of Education Thoughts      

Thankfulness- The Missing Need        

In a day when people are much distracted with the acquisition of things, we find that there is a lack of real gratitude and thankfulness in the majority of people. It seems that the more that people have the less they appreciate it. The lack of gratefulness is not anything new, but it is something we should take stock of because it is a common symptom in a people prior to them coming under the judgment of God.

Islam, the enemy of Christianity, presents a picture of the majority of women going to hell because they are not grateful to their husbands. This is different from the situation presented in the Bible where the problem of thankfulness is not focused toward man but toward God. In Romans 1:21 two problems in the downward spiral of men are identified together. The first is that they did not glorify God and the second is that they were ungrateful. The result of such a condition in a person is that they become vain in their imaginations and then their foolish heart becomes darkened.

Lack of thankfulness seems to most easily be born in the busom of those who have not suffered want . You can see this in wastefulness. An example would be the wastefulness of children who have not known hunger. They are often apt to take more food than they can possibly eat and carelessly throw what they do not use away. Another example is in the actions of Christians who have never known what it is to have the Word of God unavailable to them. They do not take time to pour over the Scripture and get it written in their hearts. They waste the time and opportunity given to them as a blessing from above.

In whatever form a lack of thankfulness rears its head, we can always be sure that where it exists a weakness in  the individual’s relationship with God lies at the root of the problem. Whether we are looking at the cleansing of the ten lepers by our Lord (Luke 17) or the indictment of God’s people (Deuteronomy 32:6) the answer is always the same. Men are ungrateful to God. We do not expect lost people to have a truly thankful heart, but it is a tragedy when saved people are so lacking.

Ingratitude aimed toward other people exists because there is first a lack in the proper relationship toward God. The cauterized soul cannot truly appreciate that which comes from the creation of God until it learns to appreciate what comes from the hand of God. It is a wise pray-er that pleads for God to teach them to appreciate His many blessings before the Lord must force the lesson of gratitude upon them.