Romans 1:20-23(NKJV) 20For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, 21because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.
In our last post we looked at the power of thankfulness. In the natural, thankfulness produces a positive outlook on life. It helps us remember what is good in life and takes our focus off what may be lacking. For a Christian it is even more important. Thankfulness when connected to the promises of God becomes a force that produces good things and not just a response to good things that may happen.
I believe we can use this thought to make the Christmas season something other than commercialism and pressure. If we will begin with giving thanks for the blessings of God through the year and continue by thanking God for what he is going to do according to his promises, we can have a wonderful holiday experience. Of course, central to our theme of giving thanks throughout the Christmas season is being thankful for the birth of the incarnate son of God, Jesus of Nazareth.
Today I want to take a few moments and look at the other side of the thankfulness coin. Today’s scripture is a scathing condemnation of those who do not believe in God. It begins with the declaration that no one has any excuse. Paul points out that God’s existence is evident throughout nature. I know that this argument would be vigorously challenged in today’s world. There are those who insist that modern science leaves no room for a belief in God. I respectfully disagree.
Science tells us that life cannot spring from nothing. However, if you follow secular thinking to its logical conclusion, life must have come from nothing. There was a “big bang” and somehow this formed the universe. (Of course, we know that this “big bang” was the voice of the creator God saying, “Let there be light.”) Over the course of eons proteins which came from somewhere, came together in just the right proportions to form the beginnings of life as we know it. No explanation is given for where these proteins came from.
We are then told to believe that this chance encounter of proteins formed a chain reaction that finally became the complex, self aware creature we call man. Science has never been able to duplicate even the most basic part of this process. They can bring the elements together, but unless life is already present in the mixture, there will be no life produced. There is some ingredient, some catalyst missing. We are told to ignore that and just believe in the almighty wisdom of science. Moreover, they would say we are foolish to have faith in an invisible, intelligent God that gave the spark called life.
We do not yet fully understand many things about the relation between science and the bible. Some questions do arise, but just as often as the facts of science seem to dispute the biblical accounts, they also tend to support them. I suspect that when we get to heaven it will all make sense. In the meantime, I choose to have faith in the creator God and not almighty science.
I realize that I have digressed a bit, but it is important that we understand Paul’s perspective if we are going to grasp what he is trying to say. Look at these verses in the New Living Translation.
Romans 1:21-23(NLT) 21Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. 22Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. 23And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles.
Paul tells us that the people he is talking about have had their minds darkened and confused. He says they have stopped worshiping the glorious God and have begun worshiping idols made to look like what they themselves could not create. They come up with foolish ideas about what God is like. To me this sounds familiar. In our day we do not worship statues and call them God, but we worship our own intellectual power even though we still cannot create life.
What is at the heart of all this? What causes people to ignore what is right in front of their eyes? Could Christians find themselves in some form of this darkness even though they do believe in God? Yes, they can. The reason people come to this place is twofold. They refuse to worship God as God and they were unthankful.
We can understand the first part of this. Even when the evidence is irrefutable, people in their pride refuse to acknowledge God as God. Man has wanted to be greater than God since the fall in Eden. That is the nature of Satan. However, what of us who do believe? We acknowledge God as God. We even worship him as God. Nevertheless, when we are not thankful, we allow this process access to our thinking. We may not become all that Paul describes here, but we will see its influence in our lives.
For a Christian being unthankful is an unacceptable, cancerous lifestyle. Just as cancer eats away at a healthy body, being unthankful will eat away at our faith and spiritual life. It will weaken us until we have no hope. Being unthankful will lead us to give up before we see the promise manifest in our lives. It is a dangerous thing, and we must not indulge it.
Look at the elements that Paul points to in these verses. He speaks of darkness in the mind and confusion. An unthankful Christian is a confused Christian. The more the devil causes us to focus on what God has not done, on our disappointments and on the things that we wish were different in life, the more confused we become. We do not see that God has helped us before and we cannot see how God will help us now. When we are unthankful, we begin to believe things about God that are not true.
When we choose to cultivate a lifestyle of thankfulness, we will constantly be reminded of all the ways God has met our needs in the past. God often told Israel to erect alters that would remind them of God’s deliverance. Every time they passed one of these alters, it said to them, “God did it then and he can do it now!” As we thank God for his hand in the past, we will also begin to thank him for what he will do in the future. Thankfulness is contagious. It will reinforce our faith in the promises of God.
Do not allow yourself to become unthankful. It will lead you to places that you do not want to go. Instead, choose to be thankful in all things. You may say, “If I choose to give thanks when I do not feel thankful, I am a hypocrite.” That is natural wisdom and not true. Look at this verse.
Hebrews 13:15(NKJV) 15Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.
If you do not feel thankful right now, choose to offer the sacrifice of praise, which is the fruit of your lips giving thanks to God. Do it by faith in this promise. When you choose to offer this wonderful sacrifice, you will eventually feel the power of thankfulness rising in your heart and faith in the promises of God will bring about wonderful changes in your life.
For our Podcast click on “Practical Wisdom Podcast” in the sidebar.
Leave a Reply