Faith More Precious Than Gold

“Faith More Precious than Gold”

-In all circumstances give thanks-

I Peter 1:3-9 (NLT)

I Thess. 5:18 “In all circumstances give thanks…” (NIV)

Thanksgiving is a time of thanksgiving and praise. Thanksgiving is a reminder of the thankful attitude we need to have all year. The Apostle Paul instructed Christians to “…in everything give thanks.” Not give thanks “for” all that happens but “in” everything give thanks.

# Rev. Alexander Whyte was known for his uplifting prayers in the pulpit. He always found something to be thankful for. One Sunday morning, the weather was stormy and dark. One of the church leaders said, “The preacher won’t be able to thank God for anything on a day like this. It is absolutely horrible outside!”

But Rev. Whyte began the service by praying: “We thank You, O God, that it is not always like this.” Like the Apostle Paul he believed in giving thanks to God in all circumstances.

# Corrie Ten Boom was a prisoner in a Nazi German Concentration Camp. She was staying in a Barrack that was infested with fleas. The living conditions were almost unbearable. One night she read I Thess. 5:18, “Give thanks in all circumstances.” Corrie’s sister told her, “God wants us to be thankful for the fleas.”

Corrie, said, “No way, That’s taking the Christian faith a little bit too far! I’m not going to thank God for these infernal fleas!”

The Bible studies kept growing with more and more women. Corrie wandered if they would get caught so she asked on of the other women, “Why don’t the Nazis ever come in and check on us?” The woman answered, “It’s because of the fleas. They won’t come near this place for that reason.” Then Corrie remembered this Bible verse and said, “God, thank you for the fleas.”

The Apostle Peter talked about “Faith More Precious than Gold.” “…and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold. So if your faith remains strong after being tried by fiery trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.” 1 Peter 1:7 (New Living Translation)

Why be thankful? Why live a life of praise. Peter give there reasons:

1. We live with wonderful expectations. V. 3

2. There is wonderful joy ahead. V. 6,8

3. Your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold. V. 7

I. WE LIVE WITH WONDERFUL EXPECTATIONS. V. 3 b

“Now we live with a wonderful expectation because Jesus Christ rose again from the dead.”

Because Jesus rose from the dead we also have the wonderful expectation of rising from the death. Verse 4 “We have a priceless inheritance – pure and undefiled, eternal in heaven beyond change or decay.”

When Jesus rose from the dead he arose in a spiritual and immortal body. During his 30 years as the son of Mary and Joseph Jesus was fully human and divine. Jesus limited himself to live by faith in God as a person just like you and me. When he rose from the grave he was no longed limited by human weakness. He had all the attributes of a person but also the attributes of God no longed limited to natural law.

Jesus appeared to his disciples and showed him his hands and feet and said, “See and believe.” But a greater blessing is given to all who believe without seeing.

Jesus appeared to more than 500 believers who became eye witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus. The Christian Way is all about a Person, Jesus. The Christian life is not about a religion or certain organization, it is about a Person.

That is why we face the future with wonderful expectation and boldness. The resurrection of Jesus is our foundation stone of hope and proof of the immortality of the human soul.

As parents we want to teach our children to have wonderful expectations. We want our children to embrace the spirit of thanksgiving.

Developing thankfulness in our children takes time. It is more like baking a turkey for Thanksgiving than it is micro waving a vegetable. Developing a thankful child is something we as parents must work on day in and day out. There are several things we can do to help in that process.

Model Thankfulness - Our goal should be to model the characteristic of thankfulness before our children. The old slogan, “Don’t do as I do, but do as I say,” doesn’t work.

We need to use every opportunity to tell our children that we are thankful for them. We can be honest and look for something good in every situation. Negative attitudes reproduce faster than rabbits and attitudes of discontent are enemies of thankfulness.

One rule we found helpful was the rule of five to one. When we heard one of our children give a negative remark about a brother or sister we asked him or her to say five positive things before saying anything else.