To listen to the radio version, click here.
To search archives, click here.
Apples of Gold
Radio Script for November 24, 2009
“Ingratitude Is No Small Sin”
Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.
Second Timothy three says, “…mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.”
Wow, terrible times. This Apples of Gold is off to a good start already.
“There will be terrible times…” Then it launches into a list of what people will be like during those terrible times. For example, it says they will be proud and boastful and abusive. They will be lovers of money but not lovers of good. They will be lovers of pleasure but not lovers of God. They will be loveless and unforgiving, slanderous and brutal.
And now listen to what else is on that terrible list. They will be ungrateful.
What helps make the times terrible? People being ungrateful.
This is something we need to look for in our own lives. Are we ungrateful?
It is a sin, you know, being ungrateful. And I like the way Nancy Leigh DeMoss said it on her radio program yesterday, “Ingratitude is no small sin.”
But we have so much, and we take it for granted. Plus, we work hard. We’ve earned a lot of what we have. So I would understand it if you said, “Doug, I just don’t feel grateful.”
Something else, we tend to compare ourselves to people who have more and better. So we look up, and compare ourselves down, and it’s hard to feel grateful when you have so much less.
The way I handle that is, instead of looking up and comparing down, I look down and compare up. It’s easier to be thankful for every meal when you think about those who don’t have a meal. You’re more grateful for your job when you think about those who don’t have a job.
It’s a simple change of perspective. Instead of looking at those who have more and feeling ungrateful, you look at those who have less and it makes you more grateful.
Now let’s talk about the “feeling.” What do you do if you just don’t feel it? You don’t feel grateful.
Well I think this falls in the category of “fake it ‘til you make it.”
The Bible tells us over and over again to give thanks. Psalm 107:1 says, “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever.”
Ephesians 5:20 tells us to always give thanks to God the Father for everything.
First Thessalonians 5:18 says, “…give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you…”
Colossians 2:7 uses this phrase, “…overflowing with thankfulness…”
So according to those verses, thanksgiving should always be flowing out of us, for all things, in all circumstances. We are always giving thanks, whether we feel it or not.
But . . . as we do it, I think it changes our perspective. Even if we are faking it, I think it still changes our perspective.
Giving thanks forces us to think of things to be thankful for, and that prepares us to actually be more thankful.
I have experienced this personally. I decide to give thanks to God, so I begin telling Him what I’m thankful for. Then in the process of giving thanks, I begin to feel thankful. In fact, at times I’ve had a great wave of gratitude sweep over me, just sensing how blessed I really am.
And you know, there is a humility in gratitude. It’s realizing I’m not “all that.” My blessings are not because I deserve them, but because of God’s grace.
Gratitude is also a foil for covetousness. We are less likely to covet what others have when we are truly thankful for what we have.
Have you ever heard of a thankful spoiled brat? No. The act of giving thanks inoculates you from being spoiled.
Have you ever heard of a thankful jerk? No. It’s hard to be a jerk when you are always overflowing with thankfulness for everything in all circumstances.
Giving thanks changes your perspective. It changes your attitude.
And listen to this. It actually changes who you are. It changes the very dynamic of your being.
So like it says in Psalm 147:7, “Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving…”
Or like the man did in Psalm 119:62, rise at midnight to give thanks.
Whether you feel grateful or not, give thanks to the Lord. Be grateful always – yes, on Thanksgiving Day, and every day.
Just make the decision and do it.
And if you decide it’s no big deal, then let this linger in your mind for a while.
Ingratitude is no small sin.
Comments?
E-mail me: dougapple@wave94.com.
May God bless you today! With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.
© 2009 The Arrow’s Tip
To subscribe to your own daily “Apples of Gold” e-mail, write dougapple@wave94.com.
If you want to be removed from this e-mail list, simply click reply and type UNSUBSCRIBE on the subject line.
If you want to catch “Apples of Gold” in its original audio format, go to www.wave94.com
To search through the large archive of past articles, go here: http://www.wave94.com/modules.php?name=Stories_Archive
If you have trouble reaching me at my main e-mail address, try this one: douglas_apple@msn.com
(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)
Why “The Arrow’s Tip”? Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold. Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.” I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.
Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL 32315
(850) 926-8000
-vi-