2 Corinthians 9:15: “Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!”
I read these words of the apostle Paul and I have to admit that I am convicted. Part of me really doesn’t believe that he was so thankful all the time. That perhaps he was just trying to convice himself. Nobody is that thankful, right? He would say things like “give thanks in all circumstances” and talk about how he had learned to be content no matter what his situation was whether he just baptized a new believer or being beaten in jail. And here I am complaining because my computer is running a bit slow today.
This quote from Professor Alan Culpepper gets to the root of my conviction:
“Gratitude may be the purest measure of one's character and spiritual condition. The absence of the ability to be grateful reveals self-centeredness or the attitude that I deserve more than I ever get, so I do not need to be grateful.”
I forget that deep down I truly believe that I don’t deserve as much as I have. And I struggle to remember that all that I have, I mean the things that are really important to me, are a gift given to me by the grace of God.
But then I think about those things. My family, my friends, my faith and I realize that I could never have put these things together myself. I think of them and I don’t even have to force myself… it just happens- my heart starts to beat again with love and joy and well… gratitude.
Maybe Paul has something there.
Pastor Tim
P.S. For those of you who are doing the Give Thanks study and are doing some Malaria research… here is a great place to test your knowledge: http://solidfoodnews.blogspot.com/p/take-malaria-challenge.html
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