O Give Thanks

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O Give Thanks

 

Psalm 105:1
"O give thanks unto the LORD; call upon his name: make known his deeds among the people."    

 

Recently I was walking through a store right after Halloween, and I noticed that the store had already started decorating for the Christmas season.  This shocked me because the next holiday was Thanksgiving.  As I thought about this, I began to realize that being ungrateful is one of the problems with today's society.  Yes, I know that stores are most interested in making money, and that is why they quickly switch to the Christmas decorations, yet, I also believe that the ungratefulness of today's society plays a role in this.  

God commands in the verse above, "O give thanks unto the LORD..." God commands His people to give thanks, for He wants to see that people are grateful for what He has done for them.  When God used the word "O," He was trying to catch your attention.  God used this word in such a way that He was trying to shock you into realizing the importance of giving thanks to Him.  God believes that He deserves a "Thank you" for all the good that He does for you.  

Taking this one step further, if God desires people to thank Him, and if man is created in His image, then that means that people desire you to thank them when they do something for you.  For some reason it seems as if it is hard for people to say "Thank you" when someone does something for them.  One reason people don't say "Thank you" is because they are ungrateful.  Another reason is because they believe they deserve what is given to them.  Yet, another reason is because people have so much pride that they are embarrassed to say "Thank you."  

Christian, you need to be sure that being appreciative and grateful is a part of your daily response.  When someone does something for you, a simple "Thank you" will go a long way.  Sometimes it wouldn't hurt you to write a "Thank you" note to the person who has done something for you.  If they could take the time to do something special for you, then the least that you can do is take some time to write a "Thank you" note.  If you don't learn to say, "Thank you" when someone does something for you, then you may end up training them to never do anything for you again.  

Ungratefulness is saying that you didn't need their generosity in the first place.  Make it your common response to God and fellow man to say "Thank you" when they do something for you.

Petty Things

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Petty Things

 

Song of Solomon 2:15
"Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes."
 

It was a common thing in Israel for a man to have his own vineyard. Throughout the Scriptures you often see comparisons to the vineyard.  One of the main enemies of the vineyard were the wild animals that would come in and destroy the vines.  Because of this, the husbandman would build a hedge about his vineyard to keep the animals out.  

In the verse above, God warned about the "little foxes" destroying the vineyard.  Most of the vineyards were safe from the larger animals, but the little fox could find a small gap in the hedge and get in and destroy the grapes and the vines.  God is teaching us that the little things of life are what destroy more often than the big things.

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As this book is mainly about marriage, we see that this verse is warning us to not allow petty things to destroy the marriage relationship. Rarely are marriages destroyed because of big things; it is usually the little things that destroy a marriage.  Yes, the big things are usually what people blame for the failure of their marriage, but the big things are a result of not dealing with the little things properly.  

We must be careful about allowing the petty things to destroy our marriage. Most arguments in a marriage are over petty things.  Most disagreements in a marriage are over petty things.  For instance, ladies should not allow her husband's socks being in the middle of the floor destroy her marriage.  Likewise, a man should not allow his wife not doing things like he would do them to destroy his marriage.  If you are not careful, you will allow the petty things, or the "little foxes," to destroy your marriage.  

Furthermore, it is the little things that destroy most relationships.  Many church members allow petty things to destroy their attitude towards their pastor and church.  Many employees allow petty things to destroy their spirit about their place of employment.  Many friends allow petty things to destroy a relationship with a good friend.  If you allow the petty things to destroy relationships, then one day you will become a very lonely person.  

Beware of those little petty things that destroy relationships. The greatest way to avoid the petty things is to not make any relationship about you. When you make a relationship about you and what you get out of it, that is when the petty things will bother you. If you will make every relationship you have about the other person, then you will find that most of the petty things won't bother you.  

When you do have a little petty thing that bothers you, ask God to help you not to allow it to destroy your relationship.  If you will wisely talk to the other person about that situation without losing your cool, you will often find that they didn't even know that the petty thing bothered you.  More often than not they will try to avoid that petty thing in your presence if they know about it.  If they don't, then be gracious to them and try to avoid what causes the petty thing to arise.  

Life is too short to allow the petty things to destroy our relationships with others. If you will look at the whole picture in every relationship, you will find that you can make each relationship work in spite of the petty things.  Be careful about focusing on petty things, and enjoy those with whom you have relationships.

 

Don't Give Up

Please, Don't Give Up

 

Job 2:9
"Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die."
 

One of the saddest statements I have found in the Scriptures is in the verse above when Job's wife said to him, "Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die." After all that Job had been through, his wife watched him continuing to fight to keep his integrity.  Most likely the statement above was made out of love for her husband.  Job's wife was watching the love of her life go through unmentionable heartache and physical ailments, and she still saw her husband fighting not to give up his integrity.  A lot can be said about a man who went through all that Job endured and still did not give up.  I am so thankful for the example of this great man who wouldn't give up in spite of all that he endured.  

Sometimes it may seem like you are at your wits end with everything in life, but I want to encourage you not to give up.  It may seem like the battle to stay above water financially never ends, but please don't give up. It may seem that you have tried everything possible to win that lost loved one to Christ, but please don't give up. You may have tried everything you know to get through to your teenager that you want the best for them, but please don't give up.  You may be fighting a deadly disease and feel like you can't go another day, but please don't give up.  

Christian, we all will have our heartaches through life, but there is someone watching you who needs you to keep fighting.  Your example of not giving up is what keeps them going.  You may feel that it's worthless to keep up the fight, but if you give up then you will influence someone else to quit fighting.  

I beg you, please don't give up because there is a better day coming.  I'm thankful that Job never gave up the fight for his integrity because he saw the fruit of the fight at the end of his life.  If you will not give up, you will one day be rewarded for the fight.  Don't allow the hardness of the trials to take your fight away.  Keep fighting and please don't give up!

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