A pithy statement (followed by a not-so-pithy comment)

Someone once said that as Christians we should always be able to genuinely say:

"I am doing better than I deserve."

That pretty much summarizes the heart of thankfulness that we as Christians ought to have, amen?  What is that statement really saying? 

Well, the question to ask, then, is "What do I truly deserve?"  Biblically speaking we all deserve to go to hell because we are sinners.  Romans 3:23 reminds us that we all fall short of God's glory through our sin (all = no one is exempt, not you, definitely not me, not even the pope).  And Romans 6:23 tells us that "the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

The second part of that verse tells us why we're doing better than we deserve as Christians.  On one hand, we deserve eternal damnation.  On the other, through Christ, we have been rescued and given the free gift of eternal life!  That is why we should ALWAYS be thankful.

Trouble is...are we really that thankful?  When was the last time you went a day without complaining?  How about even an hour?  If we really examine ourselves, we'll see that by nature we are such ungrateful wretches.  Here's the biggest piece of evidence that proves we are wicked: we are created beings, given the gift of life and breathe by our Creator, yet we spurn God and reject Him each and every day!  It's like a baby crawling away from his/her own mother, even though the baby came from her and is dependent on her for life.  It's just utter nonsense!  And yet, we do it all the time.  Even as Christians, we struggle with complaining hearts and giving thanks.

Let the word of God remind us: "O give thanks to the LORD, for He is good;For His lovingkindness is everlasting." (1 Chronicles 16:34)