MORNING MANNA 1-18-23
THE PROTECTION OF PRAISE
“Because thou servedst not the Lord thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things; Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the Lord shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee”.- Deut.28:47–48
These verses are of great importance and I have made reference to them numerous times over the years. When I read the following in “Daily in the Word” this morning I felt compelled to use it as my article today.
“The Lord gives each of us far more than we deserve. His gracious love for us pours out blessings, not grudgingly but gladly. Again and again, we receive good things from our loving Father in Heaven. These blessings come not just occasionally but day after day. David wrote, “Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah” (Psalm 68:19). Yet even with all of God’s bountiful blessings, we often are not grateful. Rather than filling our mouths with praise and guiding our lives with obedience, we gripe and complain about what we do not have and covet what others have.
But it get’s worse. When we do not appreciate God and His abundant blessings, it impacts the way we view Him. If we let our gratitude lapse, it will not be long before our outward behavior begins to reflect the evil in our hearts. That is why we are reminded, “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits” (Psalm 103:2). The alternative to gratitude and obedience is servitude to sin. Once we have decided that we know better than God what we should have, or what we deserve, it is just a short step to violating His law in order to get it. All of the devil’s promises are based on lies. As John R. Rice said, “All Satan’s apples have worms.” Sin that we enter into seeking what we think will make us happy always ends in bitterness and disappointment. Rejoicing in gratitude protects us from great evil. Gratitude for God’s goodness guards our hearts against the allure of sin.”
That’s a lesson we should never forget!
David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
Humble, Tx.
