Truly Thankful

 ¹⁵ Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.¹⁶ Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. ¹⁷ And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.-Colossians 3:15-17

Wow... "thankfulness," "gratitude," "giving thanks"... all in one short paragraph.  It must be important!

I have known people who have dwelt in their need.  Those who mourn all the things they don't have.  They hoard what little they do have.  They are negative and bitter.  They don't attract many people into their lives.  Not for long anyway.

I have known people who have very little who count every little thing as a blessing.  They feel as rich as royalty.  They love.  And they are generous.  They give from the little they have.  They are a joy to be around and family and friends gravitate toward them.

I have known very rich people who live as if they have nothing.  They might as well not have anything for all the joy it brings them.  They are like the poor person who dwells in his need.

And then there is the very rich person who is humbly grateful for every penny... for every thing... and for every person in his/her life.  This type is harder to find, but they are a wonder to behold.  They are exceedingly generous and live their life in gratitude.  They not only attract friends, but unfortunately they attract those who only pretend to be friends that they might con this person out of whatever they can.

In my youth, I worked at a grocery store.  I remember a very small event that made a very large impression on me.  I was standing in the office when the bookkeeper got a call from another near-by store in the same chain.  Supplies were late coming in and they asked Cathy if she had any extra return forms because they were out.  Cathy replied that she did not have many, but they were welcome to half of what she had.

Isn't that they way we should be with all of our "stuff"?  If someone is in need, shouldn't we be grateful enough for what we have... even if it is very little... that we would share without hesitation?  Isn't half of what we have exceedingly more than the "nothing" someone else has?

We can only be this generous if we have true gratitude in our hearts.  And we can only be this generous if we truly see others as our brothers and sisters and love them as such.

Lord Jesus,

Help us to have true gratitude... the kind of gratitude that leads to spontaneously generous actions.  I pray that our Thanksgiving this year will be about so much more that eating too much.  Amen.

Joys:  Having Richard at home for a few days; just me and my guys together at dinner last night; being thankful for the little things