Grateful

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Saturday morning, the 4th of October, 2025, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start in the Book of Exodus 16:3:

“And the children of Israel said to them, "Oh, that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger."

Then we go to the Book of Job 38:4.

“The Lord said to Job: "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?”

Stop being ungrateful! We have very short memories, don't we, my dear friend? We forget where Jesus has brought us from. We are so quick to complain. The Israelites were slaves in Egypt but they forgot that very quickly when they were in the desert and they were hungry and thirsty. Of course the Lord supplied everything they needed, but they had short memories, forgetting where they had come from.

You and I need to stop complaining and we need to start becoming more grateful for what we have. I think of William and Catherine Booth, the founders of the Salvation Army. They took care of the hungry and the poor and the homeless. William Booth’s son was Bramwell Booth, that was his name. When he was about 16 years old, one night at maybe 2 or 3 o’clock in the morning, William Booth took them to the poorest part of East London. He took his son into a pub, a drinking house. There were little children standing outside waiting for their parents, in rags. You can imagine the snow on the ground in the middle of winter. He took his son into the middle of this drinking house. There were people lying all over the place, drunk. The floor was full of rubbish where people had vomited. I am telling you the truth. It was like a pig sty! It was absolutely disgusting, and he said to his son, “Have a look around. What do you see? His son was so shocked at what he saw, the squalor, the poverty, the hunger, and then he said, “Bramwell, these are our people. We must help them.” And then they went out home. Bramwell Booth never forgot that sight as long as he lived. He was so grateful for what God had given to him and his family.

You too, remember from where we have come, lest we start to complain about our situation at the moment. 

Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day,
Goodbye.