The story is told of a man who saw a good friend on the street one day. His countenance was downcast, and he looked as though he had lost his best friend. The man asked him, “Why do you look so depressed? Has something bad happened to you?” The man said, “Yes?” and he explained.
“Six week my brother passed away suddenly, and he left me one-thousand dollars.” His friend said, “Well, I am truly sorry about your brother, but he was very good to you. A thousand dollars is a lot of money. So, why are you so sad?”
The man replied, “Well, three weeks ago, my aunt passed away and left me five-thousand dollars. Then a week ago an uncle that I barely knew passed away and left me one-quarter of a million dollars.”
“I don’t understand! With loved ones leaving you so much money, how can you still look so sad?”
“Because this week – NOTHING!”
For sure this is a ridiculous story, but have you ever known anyone to be so ungrateful? It seems that the more some people are given, the more ungrateful they become. No one likes an attitude of ingratitude.
Have you ever considered how often we slight God and are ungrateful towards Him for His many blessings? Or, how often we take His daily blessings for granted? There are a lot of simple things that we overlook as though God did not provide, or we may just expect them as though we deserve them, such as: food on the table; a job (though we may not necessarily enjoy it) that provides groceries, rent and utilities; our health, and our family and friends.
In 1 Thessalonians 5:18 the apostle Paul wrote, “In everything give thanks…” and Psalm 107:8 says, “Oh, that men would praise the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!”
I have been privileged to travel to many different countries on mission trips, either to lead medical clinics or to share the gospel. I have sat at a meal in the thatch-roofed huts of Kenya and in the ruins of homes devastated by hurricanes in Haiti. Something I quickly learned is that the poorest of people in America are some of the wealthiest in places such as Guatemala and Honduras. We have so much, and yet there are times when we are ungrateful to God from whom all blessings flow.
There is an old hymn written by Johnson Oatman titled, Count Your Blessings. He wrote in the chorus: “Count your blessings, name them one by one; Count your blessings see what God has done; Count your blessing, name them one by one; Count your many blessings see what God has done.”
If you were to write down every blessing you could think of, you would probably exhaust the paper and pen before your task was complete. Let us be forever grateful for the many things God has given to each of us!
– Pastor Jerry Dunn, Oak Street Baptist Church
