Tuesday March 02nd, 2021
Memorize: Romans 1:21 New Living Translations (NLT)
« Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. »
Read: Judges 15:14-19 New King James Versions (NKJV)
14 When Samson came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting against him. Then the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him; and the ropes that were on his arms became like flax that is burned with fire, and his bonds broke loose from his hands.
15 He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, reached out his hand and took it, and killed a thousand men with it.
16 Then Samson said: “With the jawbone of a donkey, heaps upon heaps, with the jawbone of a donkey
I have slain a thousand men!”
17 And so it was, when he had finished speaking, that he threw the jawbone from his hand, and called that place Ramath Lehi.
18 Then he became very thirsty; so he cried out to the Lord and said,
“You have given this great deliverance by the hand of Your servant; and now shall I die of thirst and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?”
19 So God split the hollow place that is in Lehi, and water came out, and he drank; and his spirit returned, and he revived. Therefore he called its name En Hakkore, which is in Lehi to this day.
Message:
One day, I asked God why He punished King Saul so much while David who committed more sins was called the man after His heart. He responded by telling me to read 2 Samuel 6:14 GNT
« David, danced with all his might to honor the LORD. »
Then He asked me to look for a place where Saul danced for Him.
I searched and couldn’t find.
I further decided to check where he said thank you to God somehow, but I didn’t find any. Not even when God raised him to be king.
It was clear then that Saul’s downfall was majorly due to ingratitude.
Another person who failed due to ingratitude is Samson.
All the time that the Bible records that the Spirit of the Lord came upon him and he did great exploits, not once did he say Thank you Lord. In fact, probably the most glaring of such incidents was in Judges 15:17-18 GWT:
« “17 When he finished saying this, he threw the jawbone away. He called that place Ramath Lehi [Jawbone Hill]. 18 Samson was very thirsty. So he called out to the Lord and said, “You have given me this great victory. But now I’ll die from thirst and fall into the power of godless men.” »
Just after exploits so great that even he acknowledged they were from God, instead of giving thanks, all he did was complain.
Ingratitude is a pointer to pride.
Proverbs 16:18 says that pride goes before a fall.
Ungrateful people are proud and are heading for a fall.
When you see a person who is always grateful, you see humility in the fellow and since God gives grace to the humble (1 Peter 5:5), the grace of God will always take the person higher.
Whatever chance you get, always remain grateful to God.
Be grateful for even the little things that others take for granted; be grateful that you can sleep and wake the next day, that you can walk, that you can talk, that you can wear your clothes by yourself, that you can eat, that you can use the bathroom, that you still have a sound mind.
In everything and for everything, give thanks for this is the will of God (1 Thessalonians 5:18).
Prayer point: Father, I am grateful for all that You are doing for me; please Lord, help me never to be ungrateful.
Author: Pst E. A Adeboye
Texte edited by Naomie
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