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

Higher Thoughts

  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the  Lord . “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)           The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments,   for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord      so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (I Corinthians 2:15-16) If you read about the ancient gods of the various peoples, you’ll find that they think just like people. In fact, they think just like the sort of people we really wouldn’t want to be around. They think like the most corrupt Hollywood producer or, like hormone overloaded teens with no upbringing.   It’s embarrassing to read. I have a friend who argues that because God is not just like us, He is so vastly dif...
2 comments
Read more

Think About These Things

                 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8) This passage is a major challenge for me. Like everyone else, I struggle to keep my thoughts from wandering off into the weeds, then wondering what possible benefits those weeds might have… Sigh. But as a writer, I have to delve at least a little into the ignoble, wrong, impure, unlovely, and debased. After all, there’s no story if everything’s just as it should be and everyone’s happy. As Christians, there are times when we need to deal with all the negatives, but that makes it even more important that we practice turning our minds by force of attention to what is noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. It’s just too easy to get stuck in a swamp. With my...
1 comment
Read more

A Virgin?

           Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)           This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 1:18)           But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”            “How will this be,” Mary asked the...
Post a Comment
Read more