1 Thessalonians 5:18; Luke 10:21; 1 Chronicles
16:8-9
Thanks
Thanks. Just the word lifts the spirit. To say thanks is to celebrate a
gift. Something. Anything. Animals. Bald spots. Chocolate. Dictionaries.
To say thanks is to cross the tracks from have-not to have-much, from
the excluded to the recruited. Thanks proclaims, “I’m not disadvantaged,
disabled, victimized, scandalized, forgotten, or ignored. I am blessed.”
Gratitude is a dialysis of sorts. It flushes the self-pity out of our systems.
In Scripture the idea of giving thanks is not a suggestion or
recommendation; it is a command. It carries the same weight as “love your
neighbor” and “give to the poor.” More than a hundred times, either by
imperative or example, the Bible commands us to be thankful. If quantity
implies gravity, God takes thanksgiving seriously.
Jesus was robustly thankful. He was thankful when Mary interrupted the
party with perfume. When he hugged children and blessed babies and watched
blind people look at their first sunsets, Jesus was thankful. When the
disciples returned from their first mission trip, he rejoiced: “I thank You,
Father, Lord of heaven and earth” (Luke 10:21).
Thank you, . . .
Don’t be too quick in your assessment of God’s gifts to you. Thank him.
Moment by moment. Day by day.
Adapted From: The Power of a
Simple Prayer You Version
