 "In
that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit, and said, "I thank thee, O Father,
Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise
and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes; even so, Father, for so
it seemed good in thy sight. All things are delivered to me of my
Father; and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father; and who the
Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him." (Lk. 10:21-22).
The Lord gave thanks for His earthly
blessings during His lifetime as well as His spiritual blessings (Jn. 6:11,
11:41-42). But the verse in Luke 10:21 teaches us more clearly what
godly thanksgiving really is.
Godly thanksgiving always begins
with thanking or praising God first, for who He is and for what He has
done. Our Lord rejoiced that God was His Father, and heard Him always.
He rejoiced that He was, and is, the Lord of heaven and earth - He rules
and reigns over all His creation and creatures. His will is always
done. It cannot be frustrated (Dan. 4:34-35).
He then continued to thank His Father
for having revealed His gospel to babes - persons that know that they can't
do anything without Him - they are completely dependent upon Him, as a
baby is, for ALL THINGS. These are the people that His Father gave
Him before the creation of the world (Jn. 17:1-10). These are the
people that He died for and kept in His mind as He endured the terrible
sufferings on the cross; He did it for the joy that was set before Him
(Heb. 12:2-3).
Let us look unto Him, and consider
Him, if we are becoming discouraged and weary that we may glorify God in
these very evil days by being thankful for all things and in all things
as He was (Eph. 5:20, I Th. 5:18). ALL THINGS ARE FOR OUR SAKES (II
Cor. 4:15), all the evil as well as the good.
If we are filled with anger and impatience
all the time, our heart is deceiving us. It is saying, "God's word
is not true."
May God help us to see our need of
grace that we may live to His glory and our good. |
