Entitlement To Gratitude

Pray diligently. Stay alert, with your eyes wide open in gratitude.- Colossians 4:2


I'm running a little late today with my devotion.  Friday mornings are hard since I have to be at reunion by 7:30.  Sometimes the ideas just don't come when I feel rushed.  But I've been thinking about part of our discussion at reunion this morning and thought I'd take a few minutes from my work day to do my devotion.


One of my reunion sisters (Janice) is a dental hygienist and she was privileged to serve last week in Charlotte as part of a group of dental professionals who gave their time to provide free dental work to those who could not afford it.  She talked about how humble and grateful so many of the people were, but that there were also many who were actually rude and demanding and about the sense of entitlement she felt from that group.


Unfortunately there are many people that have been trapped in the cycle of poverty and welfare for generations who, because they really know no other way, have grown up with this sense of entitlement... that the world somehow owes it to them to take care of them.  As a church employee, I too, often see this attitude in people coming to our doors for help when we cannot do all they want us to do.


But it is not only the poverty-stricken that have this attitude.  I think to a certain extent many of us who have grown up more privileged also have a sense of entitlement in a different way.  We may think our job security should be the responsibility of our employers rather than the result of our own work.  We may think we are entitled to loans and credit cards even when we can't afford to pay them back... and many people even believe they are entitled to choose NOT to pay them back when they find they have gotten in too deep by filing bankruptcy.    


But I think the present times are awakening each of us to our own sense of entitlement.  We are beginning to see that just because we want it doesn't mean that we should - or even can - have it.  We are becoming more thankful for our jobs even in the midst of the daily aggravations it might bring.  We are beginning to understand that we could very well be standing in line for food stamps or even looking for a bed in the homeless shelter ourselves if things get much worse.


Is our sense of entitlement beginning to turn completely around into a sense of gratitude?  If the current economic condition does nothing else for our country, this change of attitude would be more than enough.  Once again, God is taking a bad thing and working his good through it.


Father,
Help us to not need to be in a desperate situation before we become grateful for what we once saw as an entitlement.  Amen.


Joys:  Good reunion group discussion; answered prayers; the weekend