(I Thessalonians 5:18) "In Every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." When I started this series on January 2nd, I intended to devote a few Sundays straight in writing about this subject and be done with it. As it turned out it hasn't happened yet. I've been sidetracked since that time. On Saturday January 8th, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was shot by Jared Loughner in Tucson during the "Congress at Your Corner" event. I had a thought the next day to write about the murder of elected officials, which is unjustifiable. God says that "Vengeance is mine." (Romans 12:19) Since that time I was behind in writing other posts and as a result I haven't devoted any time to this series. I'm going to resume this series today. I will probably won't continue this series the next few Sundays straight. I may write another post on this subject next Sunday. Until I have all my thoughts together on this timely subject, I won't be submitting posts. I know I will write at least three posts on this series which include "Appreciating the American Heritage", "Appreciating the Church", and "A Proper Respect for Material Goods". I may include other posts if other thoughts on this subject come to mind. As I've just mentioned earlier, I highly doubt I will be writing posts on this subject the next few Sundays straight. I will submit posts whenever I have my thoughts together to write these posts. How long this series will be I have no idea. As I've just stated earlier, I will submit three posts on this series.
In concluding the introduction to this series, I want to mention it's very important that God's people learn to be thankful. There are numerous scriptures that tell us to praise God for his goodness in our lives. As mentioned in the last post on January 2nd, America has experienced unprecedented prosperity since World War II. We live in the most prosperous generation ever in the history of this country. We've been spoiled and we've taken much for granted. The problem with this generation, esp. some who are on welfare, is they have adopted this entitlement mentality. We have this mentality that we're somehow entitled for the blessings that we enjoy. That's why there's so much envy for the rich in this country. Many lower class Americans tend to be envious of rich people. I do understand there are some evil, pathetic, cut-throat rich people. We saw the evil side of rich people during the 2008 mortgage meltdown with the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac fiasco. However, all rich people didn't inherit their wealth. Not all rich people dishonestly earned their money. Consequently, there are some people that believe they're entitled to be wealthy or own houses, cars, etc. Some people view riches as a birthright. That's far from the truth.
I believe in the concept of equal opportunity. I'm for anyone becoming rich as long as they are willing to honestly labor for it. There's nothing sinful about being wealthy. I Timothy 6:10 says that the love of money is the root of all evil, not money itself. If a person wants to be wealthy, they have that opportunity to labor for it. The entitlement mentality that many people possess has ruined our nation's character. As a result of that mentality, we don't have appreciation nor respect for what we've been entrusted with. That's what's dangerous about parents pampering their children. Their children will grow up thinking they deserve everything that's given to them. As a result, they will turn out to be slothful bums who are nothing but a menace to society. I have no problems with parents giving their children gifts, but they need to instill in their children that all blessings come from God and we're not blessed because we deserve it. We're blessed in spite of ourselves. That should humble us. I'm glad God's goodness is not based on my merit. If God's goodness in my life was based upon my own merits, God would never be good to me. We don't deserve God's goodness and grace. God gave his son into this world to die for the sins of mankind. Jesus didn't die for the sins of mankind because we deserve it. He died for the sins of mankind because HE loved us. It was in spite of us. Parents that teach children that they're entitled to all the nice things in life are destroying their children. We must learn who we are and recognize God's blessings upon us are in spite of us. It's a result of his love toward us. I don't want to take that for granted. We need to learn to be appreciative before American goes into meltdown mode. There's coming a day that God's going to judge this world and all the gold and silver of this world will fade away. Don't take things for granted. There will come a day when we wish we were more thankful. That won't be good. We need to give thanks now.
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