Ungrateful jerks

Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth! For the LORD has spoken: "I have nourished and brought up children, And they have rebelled against Me; - Isaiah 1v2

I don’t like it when people are ungrateful. I know that I should not be bothered by these little things, but I don’t like it when people don’t say thank you. I don’t like it when I pull over on one of our narrow roads to let a car pass and they don’t even wave to say thank you. I think horrible thoughts like – ‘You ungrateful jerk!’

I use that to illustrate how we as humans feel about ingratitude. We don’t, or shouldn’t, do things to get a thank you. And, yet, even if we don’t get an acknowledgement or a thank you we still like for people to at least not turn against us when we have done things for them.

God speaks as a father here in Isaiah. He speaks of feeding and bringing up children who rebel against Him. I know that we cannot put human emotions on God. However, we do know that the Spirit of God can be grieved by our actions. You can almost sense that in this introduction to the prophecy.

I can’t imagine how it for parents who raise and feed and nurture and change nappies and put on plasters and help them out when things get tough and all that is a part of parenting only to have them turn against them in rebellion. I am grateful that no matter what choices my children have made they have never rebelled against us. I have friends who cannot say the same and my heart breaks for them.

But now think about us and our heavenly Father. He does all that I wrote about above and more and still we rebel against Him every time we choose to sin. When I think about that my heart is devastated. Every sin is rebellion against the One who gave us everything. Every sin is a slap in the face of the God who sent His Son to die for me.

How often are you and I the ultimate ungrateful jerks in our rebellion?