Skip to main content

Be Thankful

             Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, (Hebrews 12:28)

 

When the Israelites left Egypt, they thought they were going to have an easy time of it, and discovered they were wrong. When they crossed the Jordan to take the Promised Land, they thought they were going to have an easy time-  especially after Jericho. They found out they were wrong. When they thought they could worship the gods of the land and God, they thought they’d have an easy time of it. They were wrong and ended up in exile. When the Romans invaded England, they thought they’d have an easy time of it. They found out they were mistaken. When the settlers and later the Puritans came to the New World, well, you can already see where this is going.

The reason we have Thanksgiving is in memory of the survival of a group of people who had been well on their way to dying out. It seems that whenever we think we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, it and we get shaken. But the Scripture above says that we have received a kingdom that can’t be shaken, for which we should be thankful. The key is in the identity of the kingdom. If it is our kingdom, it will end up (in Elvis’ words) “all shook up.” If it is God’s kingdom, it can’t be shaken even if we are.

Jesus told Peter that Satan had requested to sift him like wheat. But when the shaking was over, he was to turn back and strengthen the brothers. God’s kingdom isn’t shakable. Ours is. We should be thankful because God makes His kingdom available to us, and because it can’t be shaken. But notice that our thankfulness isn’t the kind that I – or we – want. I’ve often said that I want a knight in shining armor to show up, make everything all better, and ride off into the sunset with my momentary gratitude and a nagging idea that he’ll be called on again.

According to today’s verse, That’s not how things are supposed to work. When God gives us His kingdom, we are to show appropriate gratitude. To do otherwise would be rude. But the idea doesn’t stop there. God doesn’t ride off into the sunset to await our next summons. We are supposed to thank Him, then stop and pay attention to Him. To recognize that the One who did this good thing is good, kind, loving, compassionate, patient, etc. It’s sort of like the line in Princess Bride when Buttercup calls for the “Farm Boy” to get down a water jug and realizes suddenly that his “As you wish” meant more, and that he was worthy of her attention. This progression is shown in today’s passage, from useful to valued. That’s our challenge. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The List

              Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)           Think about it. We have been justified. At least, we could be justified if we stopped insisting that our justification be based on our merits. We have peace with God, or could have peace if we stopped throwing temper tantrums. We have gained access into grace i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen!

  While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” (Matthew 17:5)            Do you like roller coasters? I don't. You spend forever climbing a hill. You get to the top and have half a second, then you race down to a low point. Sometimes the racing down involves tying your insides into knots. At the bottom, you either have to be dragged up another hill or you get off the ride. Peter's life was a roller coaster from the time he met Jesus. There would be miracles, and then Jesus would teach things that didn't always make sense, and then they'd go out and perform miracles, and return to be taught. Peter was praised for giving the right answer to "Who do you say that I am?" Jesus said that said answer came from God. Peter was at the top of the hill.            ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Prayer Lists

                 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. (I Peter 2:2-3)   In connection with what I wrote yesterday about the possibility that I’m wrong, I’m feeling the need to go back to basics - craving spiritual milk because somehow, I missed something. It’s a little embarrassing, craving milk like a newborn, but the truth probably is that we are newborns many times in many ways in our lives. From God’s perspective, we may never be anything more than newborns, forever needing that milk. On the other hand, being a newborn can also be exciting because so much is new. My mind is playing pinball - ricocheting from one idea to the next and through six more before it happens to hit the third again. The main topic is prayer. I have at least seven organizing structures all somewhat influenced by the movie War Room , which I’v...
Post a Comment
Read more