Lifestyle of Gratitude
1 Chronicles 10:12 NLT
All their mighty warriors brought the bodies of Saul and his sons back to Jabesh. Then they buried their bones beneath the great tree at Jabesh, and they fasted for seven days.
There was a clan by the name, Jabesh-gilead, and it was actually a city in the land of Gilead. Gilead was a land that 2-1/2 tribes of Israelites inherited on the way to Canaan. There was one huge problem in Israel – there was a rape, and hence there were a lot of people killed from the tribe of Benjamin. The only tribe that did not take part in punishing the tribe of Benjamin was the tribe of Jabesh-gilead, and because of which, they also were subjected to the wrath of the rest of the country, and during the days of King Saul, there was an ammonite king that came to this place and took over the entire land. He would let these people live, but would gouge out one eye from their eyes. They went through a lot of pain. When king Saul heard this, he said by next day they will be delivered out of that king’s hand, and he went and captured the entire place, and he freed them.
This is the background of today’s scripture from 1 Chronicles 10:12.
When King Saul died in a battle, there was nobody in Israel who was strong enough to go and bring the bodies and give them a decent funeral, but Bible says the mighty warriors from the tribes of Jabesh-gilead took the risk of incurring the wrath of Philistines, and they went and brought back the bodies and gave them a decent funeral.
They did it because Saul and his family fought for the freedom of this place, and because they had fought, they remained grateful.
What can we learn from this story?
We live in a world which is not at all mindful of what people have done to us. We know how to pick and choose and use people for our own advantage.
Live a life of gratefulness. Look for all the people who have ever invested into you and who have ever worked for your freedom, how often do you honor them and how often do you thank them; however, if you are willing to just give where that honor is due, the God of this bible, He is a God who remembers the good that we do for His children.
During the days of King David, he brought the bones back into Jerusalem and gave him a very royal burial, and he honored the tribe of Jabesh-gilead.
When you are honoring the people that have ever invested into you, it may be in the past, it may be in the present or in the future they may be able to invest into you, God will honor you.
Thankfulness is the key to honor. When you remain grateful and when you stop taking things or people for granted, that is the key for continuing to remain in a lifestyle of honor. If you will inculcate in yourself a lifestyle of gratefulness and thankfulness, you will just open yourself up to crazy favor from the heart of God.
Let this day be a day of gratitude and thankfulness. Have an amazing and blessed day ahead.
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