Now with all those blessings and many, many more, we would think that God’s people; above all people would be the most thankful people on earth, right? However, that’s not always the case. If you’ve been in church for any length of time, you’ve met your share of negative Christians. They seem to live to whine, gripe and complain about everything. Let’s face it; we’ve all partaken in that sin from time to time.
Remember King David? Read what he wrote in in Psalm 100:4-5. David could have griped. He could have complained that he was the forgotten red-headed little brother who got nothing. He could have complained about how King Saul chased him all over the country and repeatedly tried to kill him. He could have whined about how his own son Absalom dethroned him and fought against him. Yet, David says, “enter His courts with thanksgiving.” “Be thankful unto Him and bless His name.”
God led Israel from slavery in Egypt and parted the waters of the Red Sea. He gave them food from heaven and caused their clothes to never wear out. He protected them from the harsh Sinai desert with His glory cloud. He defeated their enemies before them. Yet they would not obey. They would not enter the Promised Land in faith. Instead they complained. God was very direct in His conversation to Moses in Numbers 14:27-29.
In I Corinthians 10:10-11 we are reminded not to “…murmur, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed by the destroyer.” It is easy to complain and much harder to give thanks! Which road will you choose this day?
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful unto Him, and bless His name. For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endureth to all generations.
Psalm 100:4-5