The ABCs of Christian Survuval And Growth, GHG - Powerful Medicine To Cure The Runaway Human Ego, Part 4 - Gratitude

Gratitude, something that I fear may not be expressed as much as it should be in our relationship with our Creator. It's the third word weighing on my heart and mind these days. It's a response. To be an honest expression, true gratitude requires an act of thoughtful recognition and bears the burden of a response.

Gratitude: "thankfulness, gratefulness, or appreciation is a feeling, emotion or attitude in acknowledgment of a benefit that one has received or will receive." - Wikipedia

In order for our response to be appropriate to the benefits received and expected to be received, we have to "acknowledge" the full scope of the benefits.

To "acknowledge":

"1. a. To admit the existence, reality, truth of.

b. To recognize as being valid or having force or power.

2. a. To express recognition of: acknowledge a friend's smile.

b. To express thanks or gratitude for." - thefreedictionary.com

My concern regarding this word involves the fact that we frequently hear mention of some of the works of our God, but rarely many others and that the response of some Christians seems to lack evidence of the full recognition of His grace. It's only when we come to acknowledge just exactly how dependent we are on His grace to survive purely on a daily basis, that we even begin to recognize what we have to be grateful for and the reality of who He truly is to us.

These days our American society seems to be so preoccupied with what it wants, can get, needs and thinks it deserves, that it doesn't leave much evidence of gratitude. This combined with the fact that a huge number of Americans identify themselves as Christian, leads to the core of my concern. If Christians truly make up such a large number, then are the occupations of our society a reflection of the attitudes of many Christians as well? I have to admit that I've been susceptible to these same occupations in life. I accepted Christ as my Savior at a young age, but even so, when I was a young man it was among my goals to be able to retire at an early age and to have the "advantage" of many "things". What I didn't realize was that without the proper attitude about these things and recognition of where my provision truly comes from, these things were actually a huge disadvantage in terms of what really matters. My quest for these "things" became a preoccupation that left little appreciation for what God had already generously provided. "Things" became a goal and a priority that contrasted strikingly with God's greatest priority - people, and "getting" became an occupation in striking contrast to God's primary occupation - "giving". I became so obsessed with what I might be able to do and have, that I didn't surrender myself to be content with what He would do. Yet, anything I could ever do in reality was at its very honest core never possible without the gifts of His grace.

When we consider for example, that our very lives were purely His gift to us, then we begin to "acknowledge" the reality and true nature of our existence and are obligated to respond accordingly. But, giving us life was only the beginning. Man, having defiled his relationship with God was in need of reconciliation. So God then bought our lives back for us by paying the price for that reconciliation Himself because we were unable. He - God, allowed Himself to be punished in our place. Unspeakably awesome grace, but not the complete representation of His grace. His grace moment by moment allows us to continue to live in this life. It allows us to witness beauty in creation and the awesome beauty of His nature. In infinite detail He continues to provide the means for us to continue to exist. We owe Him everything. As Christians we know all of this, but there's a difference between having knowledge and acknowledging what is. Having knowledge of something allows us the option of remaining passive, but to acknowledge something requires a response ... and our God knows the difference.

To have a true relationship with anyone requires active participation. I contend that to have a true relationship with our God requires nothing less and that acknowledgment of all that He has done and all that He is to us is part of that requirement and is expressed in our gratitude. We can simply "know" what He has done and continues to do for us and be "passive" Christians, or we can let the fullness of His grace be acknowledged by the shameless expression of our heartfelt gratitude.

Am I saying that we should wander through this life humiliated and ashamed by my thoughts on these three words? As our Lord is my witness, NO! Only that our lives should show real evidence and representation of our God in our lives. It should be seen in our attitudes, our goals, our values and the shameless and heartfelt expressions of reverence and worship of our God. We owe it all to Him so the desires of His heart should be our priority and our relationship with Him should have value far exceeding anything else in our lives ... including our own egos.

I mentioned my prior susceptibility to the worlds preoccupations, but what I need to tell you still is how I came to be free of them. I had two contending occupations in my life. One was my relationship with my Lord that was struggling to be sincere, and at the same time my preoccupation with the things the world tends to value. The two cannot co-exist and God will not allow Himself to be denied what He paid such a dear price for and that belongs to Him. So He removed the obstacle that I allowed to develop between us out of His great love for me. The house, the cars, the motor home, the credit rating, the 30 year career ... they're all gone ... and I'm grateful. "How can you say that?" some might ask. Well, ... it's a matter of having a true perspective - His.

What some might see as a terrible thing, I see as an act of a Fathers' loving grace to remove what distorted His child’s' perspective allowing His child to see clearly. Some might say "he's just saying that because he has nothing left and he's making the best of it". But I say that I see now that I've never had more in my life to be thankful for. I see now the truth of my dependence on Him clearly and I see the faithfulness of His provision. I see that without the things that used to occupy my thoughts, I have room to focus what remains of my life on the things that truly matter for eternity.

Death in this life is not the worst that we could suffer. The worst thing that we as humans could suffer is eternal death. But aside from that, our failure to recognize the true person of our God, His omnipotence and the truth of every word of His mouth are things we also cannot afford. Anything else, is tolerable as long as we walk through it in relationship and companionship with our God. There comes a recognition at some point in our growth as Christians that allows us to begin to believe firmly that all that God determines to allow in our lives is not without purpose in His Kingdom and that His heart toward us is always loving ... even if it means allowing us to suffer for our own good.

The reason I mention all of this is as a warning. If you've ever really touched the heart of our God, He knows your touch ... and He won't forget it. You belong to Him, not to the world and He desires you. If you're a passive Christian, you have a choice - you can begin to respond to Him on your own, or He may decide to do whatever it takes to save you. I'm not just talking about salvation as we understand it. I'm talking about saving you from the corruption of the world - about removing the obstacles between you and Him - so that He can enjoy true closeness in relationship with you. To move you from passive to responding. He loves you and He's more than earned your devotion. It can begin with three little words with the following initials - GHG

The fullness of everything He's promised and declared to be ours in His Word can only be realized by acknowledging it and responding to it actively in the way that we live - by living according to what we claim to believe - His Word. When our perspective is right, He matters most in our life. It'll show and at the same time, what everyone else thinks won't matter so much to us anymore. We find the freedom to express our heart to the true greatest love of our life without human ego ... And grace, humility and gratitude will be eternally present and evident in our relationship with Him and others for His sake.