Theme of the Week: Attitude of Gratitude
Bible Verse: Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 1 Timothy 6:17
Scripture Reading: 1 Timothy 6:1-21
I stopped making the list when I started to feel guilty. It wasn’t the point of the exercise, but the guilt came all the same.
It was my first year of Bible College (Montana Wilderness School of the Bible) and one of the visiting professors had challenged us to make a list of things that we had for which we should be thankful. Now, it doesn’t take much reflection to realize that there isn’t anything for which we shouldn’t be thankful, so the challenge was to recognize and be thankful for everything God had provided.
Even as a nineteen-year-old college freshman with only the things in my tiny dorm room, I was overwhelmed by the number of things that I had. But more overwhelmed by the realization that I genuinely took them for granted. I wasn’t grateful for them, at least not in any real sense. I enjoyed them; I was happy I had them; but I didn’t recognize that they came from God.
Making that list is something I return to from time to time. I don’t always write it out (not sure my conscience could handle that); sometimes I just go into a single room in our home and look around. Some things are necessities, while others are less so, and still others are for pure enjoyment.
Looking at, and sometimes listing, all the things that God has provided for our enjoyment has helped me remember to be thankful for what I have. God is the source, sometimes immediate and sometimes distant, of all the things we have.
Prayer: Father in heaven thank you for the many ways you have blessed me with physical and spiritual life. Help me to honor you with them.
Reflection: How can you foster gratitude for what you have? Make your own list, physical or mental, and count (literally) the ways God has blessed you.
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