Our Spiritual Thermometer
When I came out of Teen Challenge as a young man, I was working for 50 cents over minimum wage at a restaurant, but I was just grateful to be in Christ and have a new lease on life. A guy from a chemical manufacturing plant came to me and said, “Hey, I want to hire you. I want to help you.” Suddenly, I had a job where I was making triple my previous wages. I was overcome with gratitude, thinking, “Man, I can’t believe I’m able to support myself and a family this way. I have felonies. I have a past, but now I have an opportunity I don’t deserve.”
Now fast-forward a year. I’d worked hard and gotten promotions, where I was making more money than I’d ever made in my life, and I’d become a buyer. I had people saying things like, “We make 20% less than most buyers do. Did you know down the street, they’re paying guys this much?”
Was I still able to provide generously for my family? Yes. Was this still far and above more than I deserved or had ever earned? Yes.
When I took my eyes off those things, though, I started comparing myself to others. I became bitter, disillusioned, and in my thoughts poked holes in other people's work. It was like Jesus’s parable of the laborers in the vineyard, “Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house” (Matthew 20:10-11, ESV). This parable is both about eternal things but also earthly things that Jesus wanted to call out in our hearts.
Gratitude acts as a spiritual thermometer in our lives. When I take my eyes off of Christ and the grace he’s shown to me, I put them on myself, my deeds, and what I’ve ‘earned’. Boy, what a dangerous place to be!
When we are working for the glory of God, let’s make sure that we are actually working to God’s glory. Let’s guard our hearts, and actively practice gratitude for God’s goodness in every area of life.
Joshua West serves as the Pastor's Network Director at World Challenge helping equip and empower pastors all over the world. Joshua’s desire is to raise up ministers who will correctly and boldly preach the word with passion and integrity. The point of all his work and writings is to preach the gospel, glorify God and to teach sound doctrine.