We know that when we want to keep something safe that it's our job to protect it, guard it, and preserve it, right? Well, we need to do the same thing with our hearts. There is so much going on in the world; in our cities; in our homes - and that stuff is trying to keep us SO busy that we won’t have time to have a thankful heart. But what a blessing it is to have a mind to keep a thankful heart! As I Thessalonians 5:16-18 reminds us, "Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."
We should not mark just a single day to be thankful - being thankful should be an environment we live in; a state of mind - and it should be something that we carry with us daily. If it’s raining outside - we have an umbrella of Thanksgiving. On the other side of that coin, if the sun is shining too bright - we still have that umbrella of Thanksgiving! If the road is too crowded, we have our own lane of Thanksgiving. It’s that environment of thankfulness that we carry around!
You might be wondering - how do we keep a thankful heart? Well, like we talked about earlier, we have to build an environment around it and make a point to be thankful every single day!
When we get up in the morning and we turn the faucet on and water comes out - we need to be thankful that we have running water! When go to brush our teeth, if we open the drawer and there is toothpaste waiting there for us - we need to be thankful! By doing that, we are creating an environment of being thankful for everything, whether it’s big or it's small AND regardless of whether it makes us happy or sad.
Now, if you turn the faucet on and the water isn't getting hot fast enough for us and we let out a sigh of disgust or we open that drawer and the toothpaste that's waiting for us isn't the kind we want and we turn around and complain, what kind of environment are we creating?? Let me tell you, we are creating an ungrateful environment all around us. When we get in our car and it doesn’t start right away - especially when we are in a hurry - what do we do? Most of us start complaining, and when we do - what are we creating? A climate of ingratitude, that's what!
Let me share a little story with you a out someone who turned a negative situation into a positive one. There was once a man who was robbed by a thief, but he guarded his heart by being thankful. Instead of complications, he simply said, "I've never been robbed before, and although that thief took my money, he didn't take my life! And while he took all I had on me, it wasn't that much. I'm thankful because it was I that was robbed and not I who robbed someone else." I don't know about you, but I'm not sure that I would have been able to have the same perspective if I were in that gentleman's situation!
What did the scripture tell us in I Thessalonians 5:18? To give thanks in everything! Imagine if we started to practice that kind of thankfulness.
When we get up in the morning and we turn the faucet on and water comes out - we need to be thankful that we have running water! When go to brush our teeth, if we open the drawer and there is toothpaste waiting there for us - we need to be thankful! By doing that, we are creating an environment of being thankful for everything, whether it’s big or it's small AND regardless of whether it makes us happy or sad.
Now, if you turn the faucet on and the water isn't getting hot fast enough for us and we let out a sigh of disgust or we open that drawer and the toothpaste that's waiting for us isn't the kind we want and we turn around and complain, what kind of environment are we creating?? Let me tell you, we are creating an ungrateful environment all around us. When we get in our car and it doesn’t start right away - especially when we are in a hurry - what do we do? Most of us start complaining, and when we do - what are we creating? A climate of ingratitude, that's what!
Let me share a little story with you a out someone who turned a negative situation into a positive one. There was once a man who was robbed by a thief, but he guarded his heart by being thankful. Instead of complications, he simply said, "I've never been robbed before, and although that thief took my money, he didn't take my life! And while he took all I had on me, it wasn't that much. I'm thankful because it was I that was robbed and not I who robbed someone else." I don't know about you, but I'm not sure that I would have been able to have the same perspective if I were in that gentleman's situation!
What did the scripture tell us in I Thessalonians 5:18? To give thanks in everything! Imagine if we started to practice that kind of thankfulness.
What an awesome and powerful way to start each day - with a mighty attitude of Thanksgiving!
With all that said, let the church say amen... and AMEN!
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