Gratitude is a spiritual discipline. I know that when we think of gratitude, what comes to mind is “saying thank you.”
Usually, we thank people (and God) only when things go our way. Don’t we?
We behave this way because that’s how we, humans, are wired. Joy, pleasure, gain, growth, reward, etc., are the reasons why we naturally express our gratitude.
The question though is “what if all of the above isn’t happening to you, would you still show gratitude?”
That’s exactly the downside of letting our best moments in life be the only reason why we should be thankful. In other words, you and I are thankful for what we have and show gratitude depending on our mood.
There’s a piece of scripture that can help us develop a type of gratitude that is Biblical and much more lasting.
Read Hebrews 12:28-29,
Therefore let us be grateful for reaching a Kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.
The author, in the above passage, is talking about two things that speak to gratitude, which I elaborate on more in the following lines.
God’s Kingdom is the reason for our gratitude
The first part of the scripture talks about a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and receiving this kingdom is why we should be grateful.
When you think of God’s kingdom, you need to understand that it’s not a kingdom like what we have seen over the course of our human history. It’s unlike any other human kingdom.
Human kingdoms come and go.
Take a look at the Bible as an example. It lays out the history of many human kingdoms: Egyptian, Babylonian, Assyrian, Greek, Roman, Israelite (later Northern and Southern), etc.
Today the United States and what we stand for is a form of another human kingdom. The world watches and uses the American way of life (on all levels) as standards for democracy, social, economic, and religious development.
God’s Kingdom is unlike any other human kingdom
All human kingdoms, as you can tell, are temporary. In other words, they will never last forever. Only God’s kingdom is an everlasting kingdom (Daniel 3:33).
An example of a human kingdom is what the Israelites requested to have when Samuel was judge over Israel. Read 1 Samuel 8 to learn more.
To Samuel, the Israelites’ request to have a human king made him feel rejected. After consulting with God, God says to him that it’s not Samuel the people have rejected, but God as their King.
Then, God asks Samuel to tell them the price that comes with having a human king. To learn about that, read 1 Samuel 8:10-18.
What is very interesting is that the people of Israel, during Samuel, had already forgotten that with no human king ruling over them, their ancestors were able to defeat the greatest empire, and as a result, be free from slavery. They had no army. Nor did they have any trained soldiers to lead an army.
Asking for a human king means rejecting God as King. Eventually, God would tell Samuel to anoint Saul, and then later David.
I encourage you to read the following books, which will give you a better understanding of how replacing God with a human king in Israel played out:
- 1 and 2 Samuel
- 1 and 2 Kings
- 1 and 2 Chronicles
Every king, in Israel, messed up one way or another, and their bad choices came with costly consequences. David’s grandson would do even worse, leading to the division of Israel into two kingdoms: Northern (kingdom of Israel with ten tribes), and Southern (kingdom of Judah with two tribes: Judah and Levi).
Both kingdoms will respectively fall first to the Assyrians (Northern kingdom) and then later to the Babylonians (Southern kingdom).
There, you can see how breakable and shakable human kingdoms are.
God’s Kingdom helps us be grateful
The author of the letter to the Hebrews (12:28-29) wants us to be grateful primarily for God’s kingdom. And, his reason is that this kingdom is never shaken.
Jesus came with the same message about God’s kingdom. We hear about it throughout the four gospels.
Here are examples of what God’s kingdom is all about:
- God’s kingdom blesses us. It is the reason to be grateful. The beatitudes are an example of how.
- God’s kingdom transforms us.
- God’s kingdom changes our perception of life and everything else.
- God’s kingdom enables us to enthrone God as King and Lord over our lives.
- God’s kingdom is all about God’s righteousness, joy, and peace in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17).
Gratitude is how we respond to God’s kingdom
The second part of Hebrews 12:28-29 is the invitation to God’s kingdom. We don’t have to do anything to receive such a gift!
How we show our gratitude for the kingdom of God is through worship. The scripture talks about ‘an acceptable worship with reverence and awe.’
Gratitude comes out of a personal relationship with God who rules over your life!
In other words, everything that you are and have can become an act of worship to the One who is your Lord and Savior.
When we think of worship, what comes to mind is always what we do whenever we’re in the Church building.
No. Worship is what you do with everything you are and have on a daily basis.
When God spoke with Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3), God wanted him to tell Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go free. Do you remember the primary reason God wanted them free?
It was that the people could worship God at that mountain (Exodus 3:12). Worship on the mountain was the sign of freedom from a 400 year-long slavery only God, the King of kings could guarantee.
Worship, being the only way we show our gratitude for God’s kingdom, doesn’t have to happen on a mountain, or your church, or any specific holy place.
Jesus clarified that place and time do not apply to worship. Here are his words during his conversation with the Samaritan woman,
You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming and is nowhere when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him (John 4:22-23).
God walks and talks with you all the time and everywhere you are during the day!
God, as the King ruling over our hearts, souls, and lives would like us to worship Him with reverence and awe.
Here’s what that means:
- God is everything for you.
- God is the source of all that you have and are.
- God is your way Maker.
Now, practice gratitude!
First, practice gratitude by making God the first person you talk to in the morning and the last person in the evening. Second, make God your first go-to person in times of crisis or need.
(Updated on August 5, 2022)
