Ok. I’ll admit it. I can be a whiner and a complainer. I don’t like this about myself, but it’s true. It’s too easy for me to complain about all the things that are wrong, or difficult, or inconvenient. I have so much to be grateful for, but too often instead of having an attitude of gratitude, I just have an attitude.
God knew that His people could be complainers and whiners. So in Deuteronomy chapter 16 you find God placing special importance on three specific times of celebration.These times of celebration consisted of three specific festivals where the people would celebrate God’s goodness toward them and express their gratitude for Him. These were celebrations of God’s deliverance, security, and blessing.
We would do well to regularly focus on all that God Has given to us and done for us. He has provided deliverance from the bondage of sin, as wells as deliverance from so many temporal ills and evils. He has provided us the safety and security of our home, our family, our church, and our country. And He has blessed us with countless other blessings that we take for granted. In reality, if you and I started listing all the ways God has blessed us, we would never be able to finish the list.
So let’s pray that more and more we will be able to replace our attitude with gratitude.
I listened to your sermon today on being in the pit, then another devotional talking about attitude, and now this one! Thank you! I apologized to my coworkers this morning and my husband for having a bad attitude in the pit of pain! I think God knew I needed a reminder this afternoon ! Thank you!
Pam, it’s an encouragement to me that God is using all these things to speak to you. It’s evidence of how much He truly cares for you. I’m also challenged by how you put action to what God was communicating. I only pray that I will be as prompt and faithful to do the same. Thanks for encouraging me with your words.
I am so very sorry for being so late in responding to your comment. Please forgive me for getting so badly behind. But I am so grateful for it! It sounds like God was (and hopefully still is) working to conform your heart and mind to His. May He continue to do so. Thanks for reading and listening.