Psalm 95:1-2 NIV
Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.
Grateful –feeling or showing thanks to someone for some helpful act.
I am somebody who observes even the most insignificant gestures to measure the hearts of others. I believe a kind word goes much further than a hundred dollars, and a prayer is just priceless. For example: if I have something on my face and a friend points it out, or if I’m short on funds and a friend offers to cover my lunch. How we relate to others is a direct reflection of our relationship with GOD. It’s a front row to our own real life stories, in which others are casted for feature roles. Our emotions, actions, and our true intentions or motives have a way of slipping out if we are not upfront with who we are.
The title of today’s message is gratitude, because being grateful is not just a moment by moment act or feeling, but rather a synopsis of your character.
One of the people in the Bible that comes to mind is Jonah. On the surface, he fit the profile of a grateful and obedient servant, yet he was far from it. He was a coward who lacked compassion and was selfish. The task that the LORD gave him was to go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against its wickedness, but Jonah decided to run instead. His actions brought a violent storm down upon the captain and his crew at sea. Then, when he finally submitted to GOD, he became angry at GOD for showing compassion to the city that turned from their evil ways, and prayed to him.
I’m amazed by the very people that say they know GOD, but do not LOVE like GOD. If our desire is to convey our own message, then we must stop calling ourselves Christians, or identify ourselves as any sort of leader within the Body of Christ. GOD’s message is one that unites us to Christ by believing that he died for our sins. How can one be grateful for salvation for themselves, but not grateful or thankful for others? This train of thought does not line up with the track Christ laid for us with His lifestyle, nor does it follow the path marked by the blood He lovingly shed for us on the cross.
Jonah 4
1.But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. 2. He prayed to the Lord, “Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. 3. Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
4. But the Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry?”
Friends, I do not know about you, but I am always grateful for the compassion that the LORD shows to others. His mercy never runs out, enduring even a marathon of sins. Even when I am wronged by others, I hope that the LORD is just regarding them.
As you can see, Jonah was such a bitter man on the inside, and therefore could not operate out of compassion. His prayer reeks of it.
5. Jonah had gone out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. 6. Then the Lord God provided a leafy plant and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the plant. 7. But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the plant so that it withered. 8. When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, “It would be better for me to die than to live.”
9.But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”
It is,” he said. “And I’m so angry I wish I were dead.”
10. But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. 11.And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”
Friends,
The message that GOD gave Jonah for the city of Nineveh was also for him, but he missed it during as well as after the assignment was fulfilled. How many today are just like Jonah? Are you? They’re having pity parties instead of doing the work GOD called them to do. They are evaluating and qualifying themselves for certain assignments, yet their hearts are too small for the job at hand. They are hiding, pretending they have it all figured out, when the truth reveals their life as an example of what not to do.
As the end of the year approaches, I encourage us all to sing our own stories unto the LORD with reverence, gratefulness, and humility, so our stories may be a reflection of God’s grace, instead of being his example.
Colossians 3 Msg Bible
15-17 Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.
