For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Romans 1:20-21
This is Thanksgiving week, and so we are looking at some verses dealing with thankfulness and thanksgiving. These verses give us some insight on what happens to a person (or a nation) who becomes unthankful.
The end of Romans chapter one is filled with the depravity of man. It is filled with the things that man without God is capable of and will do, when given the opportunity. The list given is one of heinous sins and pure evil. But all of that sin and depravity starts here in verse 21: “…when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful.”
When a person knows God and refuses to glorify Him, they become unthankful. When we start looking at ourselves as the source of the blessings in our lives, we lose our thankfulness to God. And when we lose our thankfulness, we start to elevate ourselves above God. And doing that will lead to just about every sin imaginable.
We need to be thankful. Not being thankful is a sin. We may not look at it like a “big sin,” but it is a terrible sin that will soon lead to other “worse” sins. God says at the end of this verse that “their foolish heart was darkened.” That will be our fate if we refuse to be thankful for what the Lord has given us, and none of us want that!
Justified Freely 