Grateful

Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it. (William Arthur Ward)

How is it you express gratitude in your life? In what ways is it evident? Gratitude is shown more than it is spoken. When we receive a gift, we often utter the words 'thank you' to the giver of that gift, but how we use that gift often reveals our truest response to the giver!

Remember what Christ taught, and let his words enrich your lives and make you wise; teach them to each other and sing them out in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing to the Lord with thankful hearts. (Colossians 3:16 TLB)

We have been given much in this lifetime - from the very gift of life itself to the many enjoyments along the way in even the tiniest of life's experiences. One thing is certain - we can be grateful for those gifts (even the hardest ones to accept), or we can simply receive them and "file them away". The ones we express gratitude for in both word and then revealing how we "use" that gift are the ones which keep on giving!

We probably have all received something we just didn't know what we'd ever do with it, but we politely said our "thank you" to the giver and moved on. It gathers dust in some cupboard or high up on some shelf. We don't even want to "re-gift" it because we just don't know who could use whatever it is we were given. Excuse me if you are a fruitcake eater, but it like the proverbial Christmas fruitcake that no one wants!

God's gifts are all good - even the ones we don't know what to do with when we receive them! The ones we receive with true gratitude are the ones we are likely to find ways to "use" in our lives. We may not fully understand how the things he brings into our lives are actually going to do us any "good", but remember all of God's gifts are good - even the hardest ones for us to receive. They may actually be the ones we need "most" to receive - we just don't know it yet!

Over the many years I have been following social media feeds, I have observed the trend beginning early in November of friends sharing something each day they are thankful for right up until Thanksgiving day. This year, I saw much less of this, though. Only a couple friends posted this year. I wonder - did our attitude of gratitude change? Did our posture of praise differ? Or did we just find different ways to express it this year? 

Let us never forget to have that attitude of gratitude! Just bein' thankful!

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