If
you think you know God but do not live your life in gratitude before
Him, it is doubtful that you really knew Him in the first place. A
thankful heart honors God. Too often when we say we "know God," what we
actually mean is we know facts about God. But we should ask ourselves,
"Do I truly know Him?"
Paul warns that just knowing doctrines about God is not enough to enter eternal life. He said,
"For
since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal
power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood
through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even
though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but
they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was
darkened" (Rom. 1:20-21).
Even
though we may know God, if we do not "honor Him as God or give thanks"
to Him in our daily walk, our minds darken. When we are in that
hardened, ungrateful state of mind, every word we speak is a spark lit
by hell, set to destroy the quality of our lives (James 3:6).
H.
W. Beecher said, "Pride slays thanksgiving . . . a proud man is seldom a
grateful man, for he never thinks he gets as much as he deserves." We
should be thankful that we do not get what we deserve!
When
God gives us less than we desire, it is not because He is teaching us
poverty; what He is teaching us is thankfulness. You see, life -- real
life -- is not based upon what we amass but on what we enjoy. Even in
difficult circumstances God still gives us much to appreciate. We fail
to see what the Lord has provided because our hearts are wrong.
Someone
once said, "When I see a poor man who is grateful, I know if he were
rich, he would be generous." A thankful spirit is akin to a generous
spirit, for both appreciate and receive the riches of God. When we are
thankful with little, God can entrust us with much.
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