@ Etude- Gratitude

UV3282/10000 @ Etude- Gratitude
And Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every ceremonially clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

Genesis 8 v 20

Noah knew that he owed everything to the Lord God who had called him out in a time of extreme danger to his life and his family. The Lord God had not only saved him and his family but the whole gene pool of species. They had come out of the Ark a family redeemed by the Lord. Noah’s heart was filled with gratitude towards the Lord, His Redeemer. He manifested his attitude of gratitude by building an altar and sacrificing every clean animal and bird there on. The sacrifice was so pleasing to the Lord that He vowed never to curse the Earth again, not to destroy every living thing again. He vowed so despite knowing that the inclination of man’s heart is wicked from his youth. Despite our inherent inclination to evil or sin, the Lord is merciful- this is called the grace of God. Noah was about to be the first in a new race- the race of grace, the people chosen by God to be redeemed.


Gratitude is one of the great attitudes. Gratitude is the altar we build in our hearts for the great salvation the Lord has prepared for us. It is the one altar that transforms or alters our lives and our destiny. It leads to the outpouring of fresh anointing, fresh blessings on our lives. This is the sacrifice that the Lord is most pleased with, not the aroma of burnt flesh or blood but the continually sustained attitude of thanksgiving flowing from the altar of our hearts. It does not begin or end with a formal verbal word of thanks but by changing the very inclination of our hearts from the pleasures and allurements of the seen world to the unseen pleasures that we derive by living at the right hand of the Lord.

Gratitude implies that we do not take for granted any blessing, seen or unseen, we receive from the Lord. We are not ashamed to acknowledge that we received it not on account of our ability, hard work , brilliance, good deeds or character but only due to our reliance on God’s grace. Even as gratitude is one of the greatest of attitudes a man can have, it is quite rare. Most people assume it is their right anyway. Some even gloat over what was only given as a gift from God. People resent the idea that they owe any thing to anybody else. When Jesus healed ten lepers, only one returned to say a word of thanks. The remaining nine returned to life as usual. He wanted to give up everything in order to follow Jesus. Gratitude produces a change of direction in our lives. Gratitude engenders joy and humility in our hearts like a quiet spring that always flows.