Reminders for Your Spiritual Journey

Feeling and expressing thankfulness involves an emotional response to something positive that has happened or relief that something bad or difficult has passed. Other words for "thankful" include grateful, appreciative, and indebted. "Grateful" implies a strong, deep sense of appreciation, while "appreciative" emphasizes happiness about something good. "Indebted" suggests a feeling of owing someone for a favor, service or kindness they have extended to us, or for an action someone has taken to prevent something bad from happening.

Many good things happen to each of us every day, and bad things come our way often. We are grateful when good things happen and when bad things can be averted, or we live through them without ourselves or those we love or our property being destroyed.  We are even thankful when we, or our loved ones, have suffered harm and losses but have survived. Things can be replaced, but lives can only be mended, healed and preserved.

The Bible is full of advice about being thankful. The following are just a few examples of how important gratitude is in the word of God: 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says: “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”  Psalm 107:1 reminds us: “Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!”  Ephesians 5:20 emphasizes: “Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  Colossians 3:15-17 cautions us: “And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”  James 1:17 says: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”

These verses remind us that we should thank God, above all. For it is He who provides for us.  It is He who lifts us up and sustains us and it is He to whom all glory should be given for all that He does, has done and will do, for our wellbeing. He is the one who has provided everything and everyone that has been instrumental in the things we are thankful for. Most of all, it was He who gave His only son Jesus as a living sacrifice that we should be saved.  Praise be to God for His unfathomable and forgiving grace!

According to Wikipedia, negligence is a failure to act responsibly or reasonably to prevent foreseeable harm to others or one’s self, which can be an act or a failure to act.  It often involves carelessness or a thoughtless failure to act when a reasonable person would have acted to protect others or himself or herself from harm.  In a legal sense, negligence is a "tort" or a civil wrong that can lead to a lawsuit for compensation when damages are suffered.  A common example is a restaurant owner being sued for negligence if a customer slips and is injured on a wet floor that wasn't marked with a "wet floor" sign. 

In a Biblical context, negligence refers to the failure to give proper attention or care to one's duties, responsibilities, and spiritual life. The Scriptures provide numerous warnings and examples illustrating the perilous consequences of neglect, both in personal conduct and in spiritual matters. The call to vigilance is a recurring theme in the teachings of Jesus.  He often urges believers to take care to remain alert and aware of those in need and to do as He has instructed us: to feed and clothe the poor and to bind up the wounds of the injured and minister to the sick and disabled.

The author of Hebrews emphasizes the need for diligence in maintaining one's faith and avoiding the subtle danger of spiritual complacency.  Hebrews 2:1 warns, "We must pay closer attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away." This exhortation highlights the risk of spiritual “drift” by neglecting to seek out and act upon the truths of the Gospel. In other words, we must constantly refresh our knowledge and understanding of the Word of God by attending church and studying the Bible regularly.

2 Peter 1:5-8 reminds us: “For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith and to goodness, and to knowledge and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, and to godliness, mutual affection and to mutual love.  For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  James 2:26 follows up with: "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead". This verse argues that faith is not passive but is demonstrated through actions, just as a physical body is not truly alive without a spirit. This means that a faith that is not accompanied by good deeds is lifeless and ineffective.  Let us all work to avoid becoming physically and spiritually negligent.

The word “grief” is usually used to describe losing someone you love due to death, divorce, or separation.  Similar feelings often surface after a major life change such as job loss or a disaster such as a damaging flood or fire. The ache inside can feel as if your soul is being crushed under the weight of a deep, paralyzing sorrow.  We might find ourselves asking how a loving God could allow such a painful thing to happen.  The dull sadness often bleeds into denial or anger, even anger at God for allowing such a terrible thing to happen. Grief is unpredictable, affecting each of us in slightly different ways.

Most of us have experienced a loss of some kind or the death of a pet, or someone we knew well, by the time we were a school-age child.  Even small children understand that loosing something represents a sad occasion.  They might not understand fully, but they do have a basic understanding that when we lose something or someone, we feel sad. The level of sadness varies depending on how deeply each person feels the loss and what has caused the loss.  The simple loss of a goldfish might not engender a huge reaction.  A move to a different home might represent a more difficult change, depending on whether the move will cause the loss of seeing friends or family members or just requires an adjustment to living in a different house.

God made us for intimacy and life, not separation and death.  When we grieve, our deepest selves declare that something is wrong with this broken world.  Death, divorce and separation were not part of God’s original plan for humanity. The Bible tells us these things came into our experience as a result of disobedience when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit. “For when you eat of it you will surely die” Genesis 2:17. Ever since the day mankind left the perfection of paradise, we have known that something is wrong.  Our bodies and emotions react against what should not be.

At some point, we all have to come to grips with the fact of our own and our loved one’s mortality––that our lives on Earth will end.  It can be difficult to broach the topic with others, but we have to acknowledge the fact that our bodies will not last forever.  As Christians, we all have the promise of salvation and for life to continue in heaven, if we repent of our sins and accept Jesus as our personal savior.  As believers, we know that a much better day is coming when God himself will wipe every tear from our eyes.  On that day “There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” Revelation 21:3-4.