“What Do You Say?”
November 2021 – Grace & Truth Magazine
What Do You Say?
After receiving something when you were a young child, maybe you remember being asked, “What do you say?” The words may still echo in your ears. The expectation from the one asking you that question was that you would say, “Thank you.” This is a valuable lesson.
I find it interesting that this is still often taught among unbelievers as well as believers. Paul revealed in 2 Timothy 3 that “in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God” (vv.1-4 NKJV). Did you notice “unthankful” in this passage listing things that should not characterize a believer?
Another comment we may have heard or even said at times after not being thanked as expected is: “I am not going to do anything nice for them anymore!” We may not always receive a “thank-you,” but that should not keep us from showing the goodness of God. The Lord Jesus taught that we should even “love [our] enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful” (Lk. 6:35-36). God is kind to the unthankful!
When we truly look at ourselves in the mirror of Scripture, do we appear more like the unthankful or the thankful? That could be a good question for us as we read the following articles about giving thanks. I know I fall far short in thanking the Lord for all He has done and continues to do for me each and every day, and certainly I fail in thanking others as I should.
How thankful we are for His grace, which saves and keeps us even when we sin. May we ever be growing in His grace, which is “exceedingly abundant” (1 Tim. 1:14).
If you have not begun to enjoy His wonderful grace, won’t you accept Jesus’ offer of salvation now, giving thanks that He gave His life for you as He bore your “sins in His own body on the tree” (1 Pet. 2:24)? We can tell you how.
By Paul Alberts