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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.