Was That A Pat on the Back or a Shove?

remind you of where we've come. Solomon in this book is giving us really a biblical approach to life and he begins by in the first couple of chapters helping us to see that the only way one can find purpose, fulfillment, meaning, and life and remember he's he's addressing his comments to a a pagan audience primarily of non-Jews who do not have the background of the Old Testament so he's approaching first how do you find fulfillment and meaning and purpose in life and lots of things that people try but he says the only way to find that is to center your life on the person and work of God come into a personal relationship with him and then all of life begins to fit together he's also described for us how God is in control of all things and he has a perfect plan that everything is made beautiful in his time there's a time for every purpose and everything that happens in life and God is in control of all of that we need to see life from that perspective then he's given us a whole list of perspectives that God has on things like prosperity and adversity and injustice and things like that that we grapple with in life so that we can begin to to form out our view of how life is to be lived now in the last few chapters of the book the section we're in now Solomon basically is pulling all of those strands of truth together and he's telling us okay now that we know these things and have that foundation here is the way God wants you to live if you are in relationship with him if you know God personally through his son Jesus Christ you've trusted Christ as your Savior then this is the way God wants you to live in this life under the sun Solomon calls it and in this world before you get to heaven this is the way you want you to live we've seen three key principles already of how he wants us to live we are to live with enjoyment to see all of life as a gift from God to be enjoyed thoroughly as his good gift to us we are to live with enthusiasm whatever our hand finds to do Solomon says do it with all your might recognizing that you only have one time to live this life in a way that brings glory to God so live with enthusiasm then live with involvement he says he says you know when you look at life the race is not always to the swift the battle is not always to the strong things don't work out like they always look like they should and so it's best just to stay engaged stay involved put your hand to the wheel and you're back to the task and just be involved in life now possibly some of you have taken that part possibly some of you have kind of had a new lease on life and you've said I am determined to live my life to the glory of God I'm determined to live in a way that brings in joy that recognizes all of life as a good gift from him I'm going to live with enjoyment I'm going to live with enthusiasm whatever my hand finds to do whatever God puts before me in a day I'm going to do it with with enthusiasm and with vigor and determination I'm going to put my all into it and I'm going to live with involvement in regardless of how life turns out I'm going to stay engaged stay involved with an eye toward pleasing God and you may even be thinking as you found that new lease on life or that new approach to life maybe that has impacted the way you do your job or the way you relate to others in your home or just the way you live personally out your faith you may have thought you know other people will be happy to see that change in my life there will be a lot of affirmation for the way I'm living no doubt there will be some paths on the back maybe at a boy at a girl there'll be some of that and I'm kind of looking forward to that and so you you do and you live in the way God wants you to and all of a sudden you find yourself asking wait a second was that a pan on the back or was that a shove that didn't really feel like an at a boy it felt like a criticism what Solomon will do in the next verses we will consider is bring us back to reality he's going to give us a heavy dose of reality because if we have become kind of excited about living in the way God wants us to with the attitude and approach to life that God wants us to have we need to be prepared for what may follow because we may receive as much if not more in gratitude than gratitude and so in verses 13 through 18 of Ecclesiastes 9 Solomon brings us back to reality he's going to give us a heavy dose of reality today yes we should live with enjoyment and enthusiasm and involvement but but while you're doing that don't expect all pets on the back he gives us a story to illustrate his point look at verse 13 if you will I also saw under the sun this example of wisdom that greatly impressed me there was once a small city with only a few people in it and a powerful king came against it surrounded it and built huge siege works against it now they're lived in that city of poor man but wise and he saved the city by his wisdom but nobody remembered that poor man one of the commentators that I highly respect and admire his writing is Derek Kiddner he's especially good on Old Testament books he has this to say about this story in this passage and its meaning it's it's a priceless way to frame what Solomon is saying he says we can identify it once with the people in the little city under siege and feel their relief when the amateur strategist or is he a diplomatist brings off his master stroke if we are honest we may still see ourselves in the last scene when they totally forget him but the parable is not a moral tale now please catch this this really drives at the heart of what Solomon's saying but the parable is not a moral tale to show what people should do it is a cautionary tale to show what they are like if we are to identify with anybody it is with the poor wise man not as though we should fancy ourselves as universal consultants simply that sadly enough we should learn not to count on anything as fleeting as public gratitude that I believe is the thrust of Solomon's message he is warning us that as you begin to live in the way God wants you to be careful about your motive because if you're going to live for public gratitude you won't always get that in fact sometimes what looks like a pat on the back may end up actually being a shab and it's not going to feel very good and people are not going to appreciate and so what Solomon is doing is going he's going to give us several reasons why we can expect so much in gratitude when it ought to be the other way around he's going to give us reasons why this will happen and the wisdom in this is so that we know to expect it we're not disillusioned by it we don't become cynical about this about how to live because of the response of others toward us so let's look at the four reasons why Solomon says we can expect in gratitude in life the first reason is this we tend to have short memories that's what Solomon says in verse 15 as he begins to draw the conclusions and the principles from this story that he has told us about the small city and the wise man he says in verse 15 now they're lived in that city a man poor but wise and he saved the city by his wisdom but nobody remembered that poor man now think of the story remember the setting here is a man who delivers a city and he is not remembered his suggestion was taken it was seen to be wise but shortly thereafter he is not honored he is not recognized he is not rewarded he's simply forgotten he kind of melts back into the fabric of that little town he kind of just slides back into his place a poor man insignificant man and the reason is the human element here the part of our human nature that Solomon is pointing out to us is that we tend to have short memories we tend to forget quickly the good that others do for us in this case the deliverance of a whole city we tend to forget that yes it's a small city an insignificant city and he is a poor insignificant man in that city and they are facing a huge army with a powerful king that has laid siege to that city and built great siege works against the walls ramps of earth against the walls to make it easier to invade the city and although the city knows we're done in a few days this poor man with his wisdom delivers the city it's a it's a major accomplishment and yet he has quickly forgotten showing our human tendency to quickly forget the good that others do for us would that we as quickly forget the bad we don't forget that do we we tend to hang on to that we tend to nurse that in our minds in our hearts the bad that folks have done toward us or the things that have been done to hurt us or the things that we don't like we remember those long after the event isn't it amazing have you noticed in your own personal life that you can do lots of good for someone poor a lot of energy and time into them and then one bad thing that happens they turn against you that amazing but it's kind of the way life works sometimes Solomon is preparing us for that he's saying if you're looking for paths on the back you've got to be more realistic about that you will get your share of ingratitude it's kind of like sports stars who give their whole career and play hard and train hard and do well for a team and when they begin to show a little bit of signs of age it's like what have you done for me lately you're out of here that's the way sometimes life works I came across a piece this week by a comedian by the name of Lewis C. K. from what I read about him I've never seen in his material but what I read about him he is quite vulgar at times so I would not recommend you pull up his YouTube videos but one of them he did was was very right on when it comes to understanding our tendency to forget so quickly and thus be ungrateful and forget the good things that we have I want to read part of his routine to you in my lifetime he says the changes in the world have been incredible when I was a kid we had a rotary phone we had a phone you actually had to stand next to and you had the dial it do you realize how primitive that was do you remember you remember rotary phones some of you can remember when you called the operator and she listened everything you said you know that some of you remember that but we're not gonna go there he says you were making sparks and you would actually hate people who had zeros in their number because it took so long for the dial to go back to the beginning and then if you called and they weren't home the phone would just ring lonely by itself remember the days before answering machine and then if you wanted money you had to go to the bank and it was open for like three hours and you'd stand in line and you'd write a check and if you ran out of money you'd just say well I can't do any more things for a while now we live he says in an amazing amazing world and these are his words and it's wasted on a generation of spoiled people that don't care this is what people are like now they've got their phone and they say it doesn't work very fast give it a second it's going to space will you give it a second to get back from space is the speed of light too slow for you he says I was on an airplane and there were there was high speed internet you know some airlines have started putting Wi-Fi in he said there was high speed internet and I'm sitting on the plane and they say open up your laptop you can go on the internet it's fast it's amazing and then the thing breaks down so they come back on the intercom they apologize the internet's not working and the guy next to me says oh great this stinks like how quickly the world owes him something that he only knew existed 10 seconds ago people come back from flights he says and they tell you their story it's a horror story they say it was the worst day of my life first of all we didn't board for 20 minutes and then we sat on the the plane they made a sit there on the runway for 40 minutes and I say oh really and what happened next did you fly in the air incredibly like a bird did you partake in the miracle of human flight everybody on every plane he says should be constantly screaming wow you're flying you're in a chair in the air you're flying here's the thing he says people say there are delays on flights really delays New York to California in five hours it used to take 30 years to do that and a bunch of you would die on the way we really don't remember how good we have it do we it's hard to remember how it used to be the reason as he points out so greatly is that our memories are short and we forget the way it used to be that is true not only with technology it is true not only with societal changes and cultural changes true with people we have attendance you forget all the good things someone's done for us like this poor but wise man and we just forget about all that we remember the bad but we forget the good things so one reason why we can expect in gratitude in life is because we tend to have short memories second reason Solomon gives versus 1516 we often judge on the basis of appearance now notice the way Solomon says this verse 15 now they're lived in that city a man poor but wise at the end of the verse nobody remembered that poor man verse 16 the poor man's wisdom he seems to be making a point to emphasize that this wise man and that's the real key to the story was wise and he came up with a good strategy a plan to deliver the city but he seems to be making a point to contrast that with the fact he was poor the only reason he would do that is to highlight the idea that you would not expect wisdom from this man why because we judge by appearances he was poor he was insignificant he's in the background what would he have to offer anyway in fact the Hebrew text does allow for this interpretation of verse 15 now they're living that city of a man poor but wise and he saved the city by his wisdom but nobody had remembered a past perfect nobody had remembered that poor man the idea in that translation some translate it that way the idea is that nobody thought about him before the city was delivered while it was being attacked no one would think to go to this guy and ask him for any plans or strategy or advice who would think to ask him I mean after all look at him look where he lives look how he dresses he's just a poor insignificant guy so we tend to judge by appearances and thus discount wisdom that comes from sources that don't measure up to our appearance monitor that's what Solomon's saying and so he comes to a general conclusion in verse 16 so I said after after viewing this after seeing this what happened with this man who's wise but but he's poor so he's quickly forgotten he says this is my conclusion wisdom is better than strength but the poor man's wisdom is despised and his words are no longer heated he's not just referring to the example that he used he's drawing a general principle states it in the form of a proverb wisdom is better than strength but if it comes from a poor man it's quickly forgotten why because of his poor and because he's poor because he doesn't look the part because he doesn't live in the right part of town so you don't expect wisdom from him and you discount oh you'll take it as long as it delivers the city but then he's quickly forgotten because we tend to judge on the basis of appearances and don't we do the same thing come on be honest you don't have to testify right now or raise your hand but be honest don't we do the same thing don't we judge by the way people look too often by the clothes they wear by how polished their speech is or unpolished their speech maybe by their age don't we tend to judge by appearance and we respect what they say because of where they come from how they look how they dress where they live or we don't respect what they say for the lack of those things I read a story in USA today newspaper about a man by the name of John Barrios who had walked into his bank to cash a check hundred dollar check and he just on his way out asked the receptionist to stamp his parking ticket it was in a large city at the parking of parking garage and he was at some other business to do in the bank and so he while he was there at cash this check and and asked her to stamp the ticket which was customary for the the bank to do but she refused to do it she gave some reason about it's only when someone is making a deposit that we stamp ticket and he said well I do want you to know I'm a significant depositor here in this bank and he just kind of let it go with that she refused and so he said well I could I speak to the bank manager and he said it wasn't the sixty cent parking ticket that you know the stamp on the ticket that was a big deal for me yeah it was the principle of the thing so he asked to speak to the bank manager and the bank manager kind of looked him up and down and came to the same conclusion though we're not going to stamp the ticket he said all of a sudden it began I began to realize what it was I had walked into the bank in my dirty construction clothes with mud on my boots you know I was pretty sweaty and muddy and had an old cap on and I guess I did look pretty bad and so when he left a couple days later he wrote or or called tried to call the main branch of the bank and express his concern over that and his call was not answered it went to voicemail and it was never returned and so he said he began to withdraw his money from that bank a million at a time until it was finally all gone now let me ask you this if the teller the receptionist the branch manager had realized who he was and had taken the time to look at what he had in that bank do you think you would have been treated the same way no because the way he looked he's insignificant he's not worth spending our time on it's human nature to do that it is wrong obviously that's Solomon's point here's a man who delivered the city he ought to be recognized for that ought to be honored for that he ought to be known for that but because of who he is where he lives how he looks the way he dresses just conveniently forget about him you can expect in gratitude in life sometimes because we often judge on the basis of appearance Solomon gets however a third reason in verse 17 he says basically we are impressed with the forceful and the spectacular and look at i says in verse 17 in the form of a proverb a wise saying the quiet words of the wise are more to be heated than the shouts of a ruler of fools now there's a contrast here as many proverbs have a tendency to do there's a contrast here there's a contrast between the ruler of fools who shouts loudly and you can just imagine the big army encamped around the city the little little tiny town the big army with its king who is no doubt shouting loudly at that city to to to give in to to surrender you you can see that in your mind and then you see the quiet words of this poor but wise man who would not get anybody's attention in Solomon's conclusion is the quiet words of the wise are more to be heated than the shouts of a ruler of fools here's the way we say it in a modern day proverb the squeaky wheel gets the grease we're impressed by the forceful and the spectacular we're impressed by those who push themselves forward who say a lot who shout who shout as Solomon says rather than the quiet words of wisdom let's face it it's because of our simple human nature we are more impressed with the large army and its spectacular dazzling king who is so forceful we're more dazzled by that than we are the quiet words of a wise man we're more impressed with the show of strength and it's not just physical strength it's the strength of numbers come on let's face it be honest if you're in this situation and you had to choose you're an uninterested party you don't live in the little town you're not a part of the army you're just an objective bystander and you're to have to choose between the strategy of the poor wise man and the army what would you take man I take the army you can tell me this little guy over here knows what to do in the army is this army out here I'm going to side with the army look at that show of strength man that's that's might that's power I'll go with them I think we would tend to do that I want you to see that this proverb applies to so much more than the example that Solomon is using move beyond a small town under siege that is delivered by the quiet words of a wise but poor man against the majestic splendor of the army and its vociferous king move away from that picture for a moment this proverb applies to so much in life it applies to our culture there's a large army of people telling us what is right and wrong or acceptable and not acceptable a large army of people shouting at us in our culture today against the quiet words of wisdom from the scriptures there's a large army of people saying sexual immorality is okay come on now we're an enlightened age we're not prudish we're not into Victorian age we are an enlightened society don't give us those Puritan mores anymore we're further along than that we're advanced sexual immorality is okay go ahead and live with people before you get married there's no scandal in that that's fine a whole lot of loud voices telling us that today there's an army of loud voices telling us that marriage is not for a lifetime I read an article actually that was suggesting this from a prominent sociologist suggesting what is called serial marriages now he and I are not talking about this morning those who've had difficult things happen to them and have been through a divorce I'm not talking about those situations I'm talking about purposefully living a lifestyle of multiple partners this sociologist suggested that you should have at least four or five mates in your lifetime for different phases of life you go through have one for your kind of wild so in your oats years you know in your 20s and then get rid of that one get another one for your child production capabilities and then when you move into the middle stages of your career probably do away with that one get another one and then for your retirement years get someone that suits you more for those years and he was talking seriously this is not a joke he was talking seriously about that's the way our culture needs to move and there are a lot of people who would say man I'm good with that sounds sound fine to me although the quiet words of God's wisdom would say that's an abomination there's a large army of people today shouting at us that it's okay to cheat and lie in business after all everybody else does it and if you're gonna get ahead or if you're gonna even keep up with the competition you got to play by the same rules man or you just get run over so it's okay it's okay large army of people today large army of voices shouting at us today that evolution is the only scientifically credible theory of origins regardless of what the Bible teaches or at least maybe we'll try to take the Bible and fit it into what people have said scientifically large army of people shouting at us that way today so not listen to the voice of scripture or even if you do try to fit it into what the loud voices are saying because they gotta be right right they got PhDs they teach in universities they gotta be right oh really I think they know more than God does we have a large army of people today yelling at us that homosexuality is okay that it's just an alternate lifestyle it's a preference a choice to express your sexuality that you were born with and you don't have any right to tell me that it's wrong oh really does God have any right to tell us that it's wrong yes he does we have a tendency today to listen to the large shout the army the loud voices that are yelling something else at us because we've become a small minority here's the one that we're hearing loudest today we have a large army of voices shouting at us that it's okay for a man to be married to a man and a woman to be married to a woman have you noticed just in the last few months how many are capitulating to that how many who once took stands against that politicians and others who are now saying oh wait a second the culture's moving that way two weeks ago time magazine I got at my house the lead article was gay marriage has already won regardless of what the Supreme Court in their minds the American public has already gone to that and it's okay I know that we will be tested on that as a church I know it's coming we need to be ready for it if the Supreme Court does make that the law the land interpret the constitution to allow that states begin to pass laws that way then we will be tested as a church and we'll have to decide who we're going to listen to the large army of voices in our culture that say if you don't believe in same-sex marriage you're just some kind of ignorant backwoods preacher that fell off the turnip truck as it pulled into town you're ignorant you're not up to date at all let me tell you something as long as I have breath and as long as this book is God's word and it will be forever it settled in heaven I will not marry homosexual people now please don't don't do that we we love everyone and we should love everyone regardless of how they live okay and I do not want this church to ever become known as a church that shuns anyone I would welcome anyone of any sexual orientation to attend our church and hear the gospel and be saved and become a follower of Christ but I but I will not perform same-sex marriages and if it comes to the fact that that's the law of the land and we have to conscientiously object to that and if as appears to be the case we will be tried on that and taken to court we better be ready we'd better be ready to say I will listen and stand for God's truth regardless of what it costs regardless of what it costs and I hope you're willing to now I know we live in a culture that is becoming largely and largely opposed to the truth of scripture and I know we're hearing a lot of pressure from Christian people to not be so direct and hard on these issues the battle lines will be drawn someday and we will need to decide where we're standing I hope you're ready I face a lot of pressure already about women preachers it's become so commonplace in our culture and there's a lot of pressure put on pastors like me today to give in on that issue if if you know me you know that I'm not a bigot in any way but I do believe what first Corinthians 14 and 1st Timothy 2 teach and I do not believe it was culturally conditioned I do not believe Paul was a misguided culturalist who only did what was involved with his culture this is God's truth for crying out loud and I will stand on this book and this truth and not listen to the army of voices if the whole army says you got to do something different we are going to stand on God's word that's where we will stand that's where I'm going to stand and I hope you will too but this proverb applies in so many other ways the squeaky wheel gets the grease we're impressed with the powerful the forceful the shouts of everybody who says this must be okay for some pressed with that it also comes just the way you live your life and how you serve God the wheel that squeaks the loudest gets the most grease you've seen it happen in your workplace maybe you've seen it happen in your other relationships with people and organizations if you make it real clear you shout real loud how hard you're working how busy your schedule is how much you have to do how tired you are you'll get attention you'll get plenty of attention that's the loud voice that speaks out so much people will marvel at how dedicated and how hard working you are if you're not given to talking about yourself a lot or trying to impress people with how busy you are don't expect a lot of gratitude because as Solomon says it's the squeaky wheel that gets the grease it's just typical human nature but I would have you remember this I would have you remember all of us need to remember this that Jesus had some words to say about that because this comes back to our motives why are we doing what we do why do you do what you do in your job why do you do it you do in your home why do you do it you do in the Lord's work what's your motivation is it to get that pad on the back remember what Jesus said in Matthew 6 he said be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them if you do you will have no reward from your father in heaven and did you hear that if your motivation if your reason is to get the applause of others the pity of others the old how hard you must work then you've already got your reward that's what you wanted you got it you have no reward in heaven so when you give to the needy he says okay you're going to do something to do some ministry do not announce it with trumpets as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets to be honored by others truly I tell you they have received their reward in full that's the reward they were looking for that was their motive for doing it they got it that's it Jesus says no reward in heaven he says this but when you give to the needy do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing it's an it's an amazing way of saying it's a way of speaking in that culture that basically was saying you should even hardly recognize what you're doing just do it don't call attention to it just do it just do it don't even let your left hand know what your right hand is doing so that you're giving maybe in secret then your father who sees what is done in secret will reward you and when you pray do not be like the hypocrites well they love to standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others I mean why would you stop on a street corner and start praying out loud anyway to be seen by others truly I tell you Jesus says they have received their reward in full here's the point Solomon's point Jesus point is this what is your motivation for doing what you do if you talk about it a lot it's probably to get that applause from others that pat on the back and if that's your motive then if you get that you've got your reward that's all the reward you'll get so Jesus says practice the discipline of secrecy do what you do just do it at home at work in the church don't call attention to it but but Jesus observes it all and they also sees the pure motive in the heart now I'll be the first Sam is guilty as anyone on this count and it's a matter that God has really been digging at me on and dealing with me about peeling off layers of pride we are impressed with the forceful in the spectator the loud voice that calls attention to itself rather than the quiet words of the wise quickly a fourth reason why Solomon says you can expect in gratitude even when you're living in a way that pleases God it's in verse 18 and I'm going to summarize it this way a vocal minority can have more effect than a silent majority okay here's the way Solomon says it in the proverb verse 18 wisdom is better than weapons of war but one center destroys much good okay I think we would all recognize and probably agree that wisdom is better than weapons of war I think we would all agree that we hope diplomacy will talk down the North Koreans and there will not be a nuclear war on that peninsula I think we would all hope for that we would all agree that would be the best thing but what Solomon is saying is it only takes one guy who won't listen and pushes the weapon side of thing to ruin all the good that is quietly done by wisdom we learned that in kindergarten didn't we you were building with your little blocks in kindergarten and the bully comes along whack only takes one bully to knock down the hard work of many people and that's Solomon's point wisdom is better than weapons of war in other words in this case the poor wise man who devised a strategy to deliver the city that was better than the large army but one center can destroy much good only takes one person sometimes to do a lot of damage and he may be a vocal person but in the minority only one person can destroy much good let me apply that in this way in your life and what you do at work in the way you relate in your neighborhood and what you do in the work of God it may be that the majority of people are with you and behind you and agree with you but it only takes one person who keeps shouting out criticisms to totally demoralize you now here's the danger the danger is that you will start listening to that one voice that one center that can destroy much good and you'll begin reading everything else through the lens through the voice of that one person so you'll become cynical you'll begin to think everybody feels that way and you're a failure much good has been lost because critics were not balanced out with people who showed gratitude now in reading these wise proverbs from Solomon about come on let's get a dose of reality here you're going to live with enthusiasm with enjoyment with involvement that's great I just want to warn you you're not going to get a lot of pets on the back you're going to get some shoves along the way when I read this I come to several conclusions these three principles step out to me stick out to me from this passage let me give them to you quickly number one if you are living or serving for public gratitude you will be severely disillusioned you will be seriously disillusioned if your motivation in life or in ministry or whatever you do is for public gratitude you will be seriously disillusioned and the danger is that you may become bitter and resentful and cynical and critical yourself how many people I have known fellow pastors who were friends of mine others who just were involved in church and they burnt out you know why because they were constantly hearing criticism they were looking for some affirmation and didn't get it and they got bitter they got cynical and they threw in the towel and quit that's a danger with this hard reality of life but the second principle I think helps to balance that out how do you keep yourself from getting bitter how do you keep yourself from getting resentful when things like that happen second principle is this remember that wisdom is still better and it is best to stay involved regardless of the response you get from others wisdom is still better and it is best to still live and give those quiet words of wisdom regardless of how people respond take take the example that Solomon gives would it have been better if the wise but poor man knew how he was going to be responded to knew that he would be quickly forgotten would it have been better just for him to keep his mouth quiet of course not he did deliver the city the city owes their existence to him so if he had kept quiet knowing the kind of treatment he was going to get afterwards the city would have been lost he did do well he did a good thing and it is good for us to remember that regardless of people's response to you if you are faithful in serving Christ he takes note of that he does not neglect whatever is done for him and someday you will stand before him to give an account not not your critics so wisdom is still better stay involved don't get bitter and drop out that's not going to help anything so I'm going to help you certainly isn't going to argue well for you at the judgment seat of Christ third principle I find in these verses and this is about more about way of implication each of us needs to be more careful to show gratitude we really do we need to be more careful to show gratitude to others it's not what we do things for it's not the reason why we should do our job well on Tuesday and it's not the reason why we should serve the Lord faithfully but it sure helps those doesn't it to say an adaboy ad grill thank you I appreciate what you do sometimes when was the last time you thanked your wife for the good meals that you enjoy every day even the mediocre ones at least you still get to eat right when was the last time you thank your wife when was the last time you thanked your husband for maintaining the house and keeping things fixed when was the last time you thanked that teacher of your child they hear so much criticism when was the last time you thanked your child's teacher for what they do when was the last time you thanked someone you saw working with your child in a wana or you thanked someone who set up for a nice fellowship meal downstairs when was the last time you expressed gratitude for someone and what they do let's pray together