After Mary had lived with us for a year, and she finally got ready to move into her own apartment, I asked her if we could claim her on our taxes since she didn’t file for herself. Her response stunned me. “I can’t allow that. One time my personal information was stolen, and they told me to never give it out. So I can’t give it to you.”
She’s lived with us for a year. I’ve driven her 500 miles, taking her to doctor’s appointments down in Kentucky, downtown Cincinnati, way up in Hamilton, to hospital after hospital. She’s run up our water and electric bill to the roof and contributed very little to the household financially, and now she accuses me of wanting to steal her personal information. I said to the Lord, “Oh, my goodness. I have never in my entire life met anyone so incredibly self-centered and unthankful for all that we’ve done for her.”
Then God’s response surprised me. He said, “Oh, I have. The world is full of those kind of people. Remember what your sister said to you one day?”
I remembered. My sister is not saved, and she said “What kind of God has to be on an ego trip that He feels it necessary to require people to worship and praise Him.” Talk of ingratitude. God gave her life. He gave her good health and physical strength. He provided her with a good education, good job, good home, loving parents, obedient children, a kind and caring husband…
God had blessed her tremendously, and her ingratitude said “He doesn’t deserve my praise or worship,” just like Mary’s ingratitude said, “I don’t owe you anything.” We owe the government a lot of money this year. But Uncle Sam’s records show that there are two adults living in this household, whereas we supported a third adult all year, who – like my sister – loves to accept the blessings of our resources, yet not offer anything in return.
And my sister is not alone. The Lord also reminded me of the many times on church visitation that I talked to someone who said, “What has God ever done for me? Everything I have, I worked for.” To which I responded. “But who gave you the ability to work and your good health and your good job. God could take any of it away without warning.” Does that remind them that they owe God some gratitude for what He’s given them? It should, but it doesn’t. They are not about to give God the glory or praise for even one little thing that He’s done for them. They take the credit for it all, just like my sister. They feel no gratitude or indebtedness, just like Mary.
And this is the world in which we live, where few people across the globe even recognize what God has done for them. And I’ve only mentioned physical needs. What about spiritual needs? The world needs a Savior. They scoff at that one as well, under the mistaken notion that just like they’ve provided for their own material needs, they’ll take care of their own spiritual needs. Unfortunately, they’re not providing for their own physical needs; God is. And there is no way for them to provide for their own spiritual needs; God has to. So if their pride and ingratitude cause them to reject God’s provision for their eternal salvation, they will spend all eternity in a lake of fire.