Grateful Heart

Ps. 138:^1-2 “I give you thanks, O Lord, with all my heart; I will sing your praises before the gods. I bow before your holy Temple as I worship. I praise your name for your unfailing love and faithfulness; for your promises are backed by all the honour of your name.”

Let’s start our time in God’s presence today by thanking Him for His kindness and mercy. I pray that in His presence, God will breathe upon us today, He will teach us His Word Himself even in this New Year. His Word will change our hearts and change our lives to the praise and glory of His Holy Name alone, in Jesus’ Mighty Name. Amen! Luke 17:^7-10 “When a servant comes in from ploughing or taking care of sheep, does his master say, ‘Come in and eat with me’? No, he says, ‘Prepare my meal, put on your apron, and serve me while I eat. Then you can eat later.’ And does the master thank the servant for doing what he was told to do? Of course not. In the same way, when you obey me you should say, ‘We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty.’”

Entitlement is a major problem in our community and even for humanity largely. Entitlement wrecks homes, causes trouble in nations, and causes disharmony in churches. A young man went for an interview that was supposed to last for forty minutes. Twenty minutes into the interview, the interviewer – who is the person telling the story, announced to the young man that the interview was over and he did not get the job. The young man objected, ‘But we are just twenty minutes into the interview…”. The lady said, ‘You know why you cannot even get the job? Half of the time we have been talking, you have been on your phone, texting.’

The young man insisted, ‘I can do this job. Have you seen my resume?’ He had a very impressive resume. ‘Did you see my recommendation?’, He came highly recommended by very powerful men. She thanked him for coming and told him he could go. Even though that was disappointing, that was not the punchline. About two hours later, the lady said she got a call from the young man’s parents telling her how special and gifted He was. They assured her she was going to be missing something really special. I was like, ‘What?’ The problem with us many times is we feel we are entitled to things. But the truth is when you are entitled, you cannot be grateful. You are either grateful or you are entitled. Entitlement is a psychological disease. They say entitlement is a mind disease that shows up in the attitude.

You can meet someone that is entitled or feels entitled and guess what? It has nothing to do with age, or generation, or status. You can either be grateful or entitled, but you cannot be both. When you feel entitled, you cannot be grateful. In your office, every time you feel entitled to something, you cannot be grateful for that job. At home, every time you feel entitled, you would not be grateful for the roof over your head. It is even affecting the nation; people get into political offices and they feel entitled to the treasury. It is affecting churches and Christians; increasingly, Christians feel entitled to be entertained in church. Be grateful, not entitled.

Prayer: Holy Spirit, please search my heart and purge me completely of an entitled heart. Lord, help my heart to stay consistently grateful, in Jesus Name. Amen!