Friday, March 4, 2011

Audacity versus Appreciation, part 2

In Jonah 4, Jonah starts out by telling God that the reason he didn't want to work for God in the first place was because God was compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love, and slow to send calamity. Jonah needs to say that aloud and listen to himself! He just described the God I would WANT to follow. He doesn't make sense.

God gives Jonah a tiny demonstration on entitlement. God gave the vine. God could take it back. Jonah didn't "deserve" it. He wasn't entitled to it. Jonah did appreciate the vine while he had it -- well, he was happy about it. I don't know if he thanked God.

What all has God given us that we are happy about? What all has he given us that we take for granted?! These are all blessings we need to be thankful for and give thanks for. When they are gone, how gracious can we be? How can we translate this attitude to kids?

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