You may have seen this before; I have posted it each November in the three years that I have been blogging. I need to be reminded again and again...
This year, I am adding a medley of Thanksgiving hymns at the end.
This year, I am adding a medley of Thanksgiving hymns at the end.
For years, I have kept this quoted passage tucked within the pages of my Bible. I can't even remember where I first found it. I only know that it pierced my heart so deeply that I wanted to keep it near, to be able to read it again and again and again. My human heart is so prone to complaining; yet I know that it should be filled only with gratitude. So when I find myself murmuring, I return to this place of eternal perspective and fall on His mercy. Lord, forgive me for forgetting your amazing grace.
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Our culture is riddled with a poisonous spirit of entitlement. We always think we deserve more. We’re disappointed with our family, our neighbors, church, the waitress, the sales clerk, and the department of motor vehicles. Ultimately, we’re disappointed with God. He hasn’t given us everything we want.
What madness! If only we could see our situation clearly—even for a moment. We deserved expulsion; He gives us a diploma. We deserved the electric chair; He gives us a parade. Anything less than overwhelming gratitude should be unthinkable. He owes us nothing. We owe Him everything. When you realize you deserve nothing better than hell, it puts a “bad day” in perspective, doesn’t it?
Christians in Sudan—who’ve suffered unspeakably for their faith—are deeply grateful for God’s daily blessings. But us? We whine and pout.
Thankfulness should draw a clear line between us and a Christless world. If the same spirit of entitlement and ingratitude that characterizes our culture characterizes us, what do we have to offer?
If I grasp that I deserve hell, I’ll be filled with gratitude not only for God’s huge blessings—including my redemption and home in heaven—but also for His smaller blessings: sun, rain, a beating heart, eyes that see, legs that walk, a mind that thinks...And because Christ allowed Himself to be crushed under the weight of my sin, I’ll enjoy forever a clear mind and a perfect body...Never believe anything about yourself or God that makes His grace to you seem anything less than astonishing. Because that’s exactly what it is.
~Randy Alcorn, The Grace and Truth Paradox, Multnomah Publishers 2003, pp. 33-35
Again and again.... yes, me too!
ReplyDeleteJoining with you in a new gratitude medley....
These words are indeed very piercing, Cheryl. I love it that you carry them within the pages of your Bible. Our hearts are so easily drawn into the thinking of the world. This spirit of entitlement is so rampant and so ugly. Michael Card used to sing a song about the "spirit of the age", and I'm reminded of that as I read these words you have shared. Self on the throne. If only we were always fully aware of what we truly deserve, what a humble and grateful people we would be.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing the Thanksgiving medly. How beautiful. I'm so grateful the Lord brought your family into my life. You are such an inspiration. And you are loved.
Thank you to sharing this.
ReplyDeletewhew! that excerpt from randy alcorn is serious.
ReplyDeletelove this, so glad you shared!
{p.s. i just discovered that we have a little family connection! just noticed on kristin's blog my cousin in law's husband and children!
crazy! xo}