Make thankfulness your sacrifice to God, and keep the vows you made to the Most High. Then call on me when you are in trouble, and I will rescue you, and you will give me glory.” [Psalm 50.14-15]
The Psalmist indicates that we can call on God when we are in trouble and He will rescue us!
YEAH!
But, there is a necessary qualifier in order to enjoy this benefit! The Bible is not a genie lamp we simply "rub on" when we are in need! The Psalmist qualifies the benefit with a condition...
Thankfulness. Gratitude.
All too often we forget to remain thankful to God. I know I must be the worst.
For all the teaching, preaching, and encouragement to live by faith, little or none of that affects our situation without thankfulness. At least that is what the Psalmist wrote!
But there is actually more. Thankfulness is to be accompanied by keeping vows made to God. And, to keep a vow, one must first make a vow!
What vows have we made to God?
I think the one vow most fail to keep is their vow to trust Christ for redemption. Unlike early Christians, too many modern Christians look little, if anything, like Christ in their lives and actions. This is particularly true in the West. Although their journey of Christianity began with a commitment to take up their cross and follow Jesus, they display few noticeable signs of being a Christ follower after some time. Along the way, they drop their cross, exchanging it for the ways and burdens of the world, and pretty much look and act like everyone else from that point forward.
Do we not see that it is our personal responsibility to understand the lack of power in our lives and correct it?
From Psalm 50 we see our personal responsibility is two-fold: be thankful and be committed.
Father, I want to be mindful today and going forward of my personal responsibility to be thankful and remain true to the commitment I made to You!
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