4. Thank You, God!

An attitude of gratitude is the immediate result of repentance. When the prodigal son experienced ill-treatment from his master, he realized the greatness of his own father. Although he had known his father all his life, he had never known that his father was such a great person. He feels great respect for his father, and he feels sorry for his own behavior. He feels the urgent need to meet his father and admit that he was wrong. Along with all these feelings, he also feels gratitude to his father.

Why does he feel gratitude? He realizes that although he was wrong all along, his father remained right all along, and although he mistreated his father, his father never mistreated him in return. This realization raises the feeling of gratitude within him. He goes to meet his father without expecting anything in return. Over and beyond his imagination and expectation, his father accepts him unconditionally as his own son. This makes him feel so much gratitude.

In contrast to him, his older brother does not feel grateful to his father. He opens up his list of complaints against his father. He can’t find any reason to be grateful to his father. He has only reasons to complain. “Although I have been good to you, you have not been good to me” This is the summary of what he says to his father.

Speaking about gratitude, we often hear the example of a glass half full. One may look at it positively or negatively. With a positive view, one says, Oh, it is half full! But with a negative view one says, Oh it is only half full! Prior expectation is what makes the difference. If you expected a full glass of water, half full glass makes you feel negative, but if you expected an empty glass or one with very little water, half full makes you feel positive. Thankfulness is inversely proportional to expectation. More expectation causes more complaint, but less expectation causes more thankfulness.

The prodigal son and his brother saw their father differently. The prodigal son didn’t expect anything from his father, but his brother expected too much. As a result, the prodigal son felt grateful, but his brother felt only ingratitude. Adam and Eve had been grateful to God before the snake’s intervention. But once the snake injected the poison of suspicion to their minds, they developed an attitude of ingratitude.

If we come to God’s presence expecting only blessings, we will get frustrated. We need to come to God’s presence with an open mind willing to accept whatever God gives. That is the difference between job and his wife. Job’s wife expected a life of comforts from God, but Job had no such expectations. That is why when the disasters hit their life, Job’s wife wanted to commit suicide, but Job could continue to live.

If we expect only good behavior from the people around us, we get frustrated. On the other hand if we expect bad behavior from others, we won’t have a chance to get frustrated. Also their good behavior makes us happy, and we feel grateful for that.

In the story of talents, the one who got only one talent probably had a negative attitude. He compared himself with the other two and wondered why his master gave him only one talent, while he gave more to the other two. This thought probably made him ungrateful and inactive. As a result he lost even the one talent he had. We sometimes compare ourselves with others who have more wealth or abilities, and develop an ungrateful attitude. We need to realize that God always gives his wealth and abilities and everything else in different measure to people. Our job is to become good stewards for what we have got.

Let us be aware of whatever we have, and whatever we don’t have. Let us be grateful for whatever we have. Let us not compare with other people, and let us not complain for what we don’t have. Let us thank God for the food we eat, for the clothes we wear, and for the shelter we live in. That is how we bless them all. Let us live a blessed life in a blessed world by thanking God for everything.

In Psalm 50, the psalmist presents an imaginary dramatic situation in which God calls all the people together and tell them that what God wants from them is an attitude of gratitude, and not sacrifice. The sacrifices God disapproves in the psalm are the ones people do on a regular basis to please God and to obtain the blessings of God. The psalmist is laughing at the foolishness of those who think that God is like a feudal lord who needs the gifts of his tenants, and that someone can please God by giving some gifts.

In short, the realization that God loves us unconditionally, and that God forgives us all our wrongdoings make us feel grateful to God. 

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