Time to Take Inventory

from Thanksgiving by Jim Cymbala

“For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.”

Romans 1:21

With the fall of man, God could have wiped out all of creation. But instead, he sent his only Son to shed his blood and redeem humanity, so that whoever believes in him would not perish but have eternal life. You would think that would result in an explosion of praise born out of gratitude for such a wonderful and undeserved gift from a loving heavenly Father, but that has not been the history of humanity so far. In fact, the first step of departure from God, according to the book of Romans, was that after God blessed humanity with every good gift, they would not thank him. And so, they brought upon themselves all kinds of evil, which shows how terrible it is to be unthankful.

And it continues to this day. God’s Word says that every good and perfect gift comes from him. That includes the food we’ve eaten, the beds we slept on last night, the families in which he’s placed us, and the very breath in our lungs. God showers on us every good thing, but many times we focus only on the negatives.

It’s time to take inventory, brothers and sisters in Christ. Have we been remiss in this area of our lives? Let’s go on record today to say, “God has been good to me, and I want to thank him!”

‬For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

‭‭Romans‬ ‭1:18‭-‬32