It’s hard to believe we are on the doorstep of Thanksgiving already. It seems Labor Day was just last week. Nevertheless, the naked trees and early sunsets convince me that it is late November.
As we celebrate another Thanksgiving holiday, I pray we truly reflect on the many blessings God has given us. Our cornucopias overflow with so much of God’s goodness that it’s impossible to measure. Regardless of whether your preferred political color is blue or red, we all have so much to be thankful for.
So how do we respond to all this blessing? Having enjoyed this plenty for most of our lives, we often take it for granted and even become angry if our coffee is too hot, too sweet, or too creamy. Living in this land of abundance can foster the growth of arrogant entitlements that manifest themselves not only in ungratefulness but also in a demanding demeanor.
The temptation to grow accustomed to God’s blessings and take them for granted is nothing new, although our abundance gives us more reason for doing so than most anyone else in history. Nevertheless, Israel’s King Hezekiah succumbed to these same temptations and it cost him greatly.
In 2 Chronicles 32, we read how God spared Hezekiah and the city of Jerusalem from the mighty Assyrian army commanded by King Sennacherib. Even though this empire had steamrolled most of the Middle East, God intervened in a miraculous way to save His people, the details of which are even partially recorded in Assyrian histories. Verse 23 tells how many brought valuable gifts to Hezekiah afterward and that he was greatly respected by other nations.
Besides all this, God even spared Hezekiah from death in response to fervent prayer. You would think that this miraculous extravagance of God’s grace would create within him deep gratitude and appreciation. Sadly, verse 25 tells us that King Hezekiah’s “heart was proud and he did not respond to the kindness shown him,” and that God’s wrath came on him and his people. The Holman Christian Standard Bible says he “didn’t respond according to the benefit that had come to him.”
As I contemplate Hezekiah’s ungrateful response to the surpassing goodness of God, I’m convicted by my own mediocre reaction to God’s benefits and kindnesses to me. He has poured out His extravagant blessings on all of us “exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think,” (Ephesians 3:20 KJV) and yet we often take all of this for granted and live as though we deserve it.
As a nation, God has shown us enormous benefit and kindness and has spared us from many deadly disasters. Only in heaven will we see the full measure of all that He shielded us from. Americans enjoy the highest standard of living compared to all others on earth and we have basic freedoms guaranteed in our US Constitution. Throughout most of our nearly 250 years we have been spared from war on our own soil as well as from devastating diseases and crippling economic conditions. Although we have endured periodic and localized challenges, we have been richly blessed beyond all measure.
And yet it seems our national heart, like Hezekiah’s, has grown proud as we have failed to appropriately respond to all His blessings. Instead of seeking God, we are rejecting Him by tossing aside His commands and His Holy Word. We insult Him when we fail to glorify Him or even acknowledge His generous providing hand. Church membership is at an all-time low and attendance at weekly worship in which we praise God for His goodness and seek His continued blessing has also plummeted.
My prayer is that as we celebrate another Thanksgiving, we will individually be mindful of where all our blessings have come from and that we will thank, honor, and praise God for them. I pray that as we do that individually, it will result in national gratitude to God. Blessed Thanksgiving, George