God Expects Gratitude When He Gives Us Gifts

 

        By A.W. Tozer

 

        Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.

        2 Corinthians 9:15

 

                Because we are so very human there is real danger

        that we may inadvertently do the human thing and turn

        our blessings upside down.  Unless we watch and pray

        in dead earnest, we may turn our good into evil and make

        the grace of God a trap instead of a benefit!

 

                Men are notoriously lacking in gratitude.  Bible

        history reveals that Israel often took God's gifts too

        casually and so turned their blessings into a curse.  This

        human fault appears also in the New Testament, and the

        activities of Christians through the centuries show that as

        Christ was followed by Satan in the wilderness, so truth

        is often accompanied by a strong temptation to pride.

 

                Among the purest gifts we have received from God is

        truth.  Another gift, almost as precious, and without which

        the first would be meaningless, is our ability to grasp truth

        and appreciate it.

 

              For these priceless treasures we should be profoundly

        grateful; for them our thanks should rise to the Giver of

        all  good  gifts  throughout  the  day  and  in  the  night

        seasons.  And because these and all other blessings flow

        to us by grace without merit or worth on our part, we

        should be very humble and watch with care lest such

        undeserved favors, if unappreciated, be taken from us!

 

            The very truth that makes men free may be and often

        is fashioned into chains to keep them in bondage.  Never

        forget that there is no pride so insidious and yet so

        powerful as the pride of orthodoxy.

                  _________________________________________

 

        Yours in Christ,

        Paul N. F.