One important lesson my daughter learned this past Christmas was how to be grateful.
When she first opened the puzzle we got her, she showed no excitement. In fact, she looked disappointed. My husband and I were thrilled at the opportunity to give her an educational puzzle that taught her the capitals of the 50 states.
Not so fascinating for a five year-old. She was hoping for Barbie and a dollhouse.
After teaching her about gratefulness, we started putting the puzzle together and she realized how fun it could be. In fact, the puzzle made me a little smarter, too!
As our kids are growing, we have realized the need to teach them how to be thankful for what they have…instead of expecting something better every time.
On New Years Eve, we came across a homeless gentleman requesting money. It was an opportunity, again, to show her how to be grateful for the things we do have. The gentleman happily received our gift and bid us a happy new year. We showed our daughter where we believed he had set up his home, and it was interesting to see her start to understand how other people live.
In a culture of easy fixes, online shopping, and instant gratification, it is easy to forget the quality of gratefulness in our lives.
Jonah lived in a very different time, but he also had a lesson in how gracious our God is. He was swallowed by a big fish due to his disobedience to God, and out of God’s amazing, awesome, miraculous grace, the big fish spit up Jonah onto dry land.
Jonah survived being swallowed by a fish. That is nothing short of amazing.
I mean, I think I would be grateful each. day. of. my. life. after an encounter like that!
Well, Jonah finally obeys God and speaks to the wicked people of Nineveh. Guess what happens…The Ninevites believed God and they turned from their evil ways! “When God saw what they did…he had compassion…” (Jonah 3:10). Isn’t that great?
Jonah’s reaction: anger and displeasure that God would have compassion on the people of Nineveh.
Wait…didn’t Jonah just experience an amazing and awesome miracle when he was spit out of the belly of a great fish?
Just as God showed grace to the Ninevites, God had shown grace to Jonah, but it was hard for Jonah to see that at the time.
Remember what a gracious God we serve…El Channun (The Gracious God). When things don’t go your way… or when you don’t get what you want… or the people you feel don’t deserve good things seem to have things going well for them… remember our God is gracious. That is part of his nature.
We are blessed to serve a God like our God. We would be doomed for eternal death were it not for our gracious God who sent his Son, Jesus, to save us from the grips of death.
GRACE: “God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense”
May we be daily reminded of God’s grace in our lives and never forget even the smallest of blessings.
-Betsy