HABIT AND ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE - DAY 3

Grace and Peace My Ekklesia Family

When Wanting a King Costs You Your King

Gratitude keeps God enthroned in our hearts; entitlement replaces His rule with our demands.

1 Samuel 8:4–9, 19–22 (NLT) — Israel demands a king “like all the other nations,” and God reveals they are rejecting His kingship, not merely Samuel’s leadership.

Israel approaches Samuel not in worship, but in comparison. Seeing his aging leadership and corrupt sons, they demand a human king.

Historically, Israel was meant to be distinct — a theocracy where God Himself ruled. Their request mirrors surrounding nations and signals a covenantal shift. God names the deeper issue: they have rejected Him. Even after prophetic warning that a king will exploit them, they insist. This is not a leadership crisis; it is a heart crisis — entitlement eclipsing remembrance of divine deliverance.

Modern believers often echo Israel: disappointment, fear, or cultural pressure pushes us to seek visible control over invisible trust. We want systems that feel safer than surrender.

Entitlement says, “God owes me stability, success, or leadership I approve of.” Gratitude says, “God has already been faithful.”

When comfort Christianity replaces covenant faith, we trade divine kingship for human substitutes — platforms, personalities, or politics.

Ask yourself:

Where am I demanding a king instead of honoring my King?

Where has comparison replaced remembrance?

Gratitude is active allegiance. It remembers past mercy, anchors present trust, and resists cultural conformity. Entitlement deafens; gratitude listens.

Today, rehearse God’s faithfulness aloud.

• Let remembrance restore surrender.

• Obedience over opinion.

• Conviction over convenience.

• Transformation over performance.

  
  

Lord, You are our true King. Forgive us where entitlement has replaced gratitude and where fear has driven us to demand what You never promised. Restore our memory of Your faithfulness. Teach us to trust Your unseen rule, surrender our demands, and walk in grateful obedience. Establish us as a people who honor Your kingship above all.

Amen.

If you sense entitlement crowding out trust, today is an invitation to return to God’s rule.

Follow Jesus not as a concept, but as King.

Walk in obedience, grow in gratitude, and commit to a life shaped by surrender. Join the Ekklesia journey — relationship over religion, allegiance over appearance.

LoveUmorethanUknow

Pastor Stephän Kirby