We often forget to raise thanks to God for the little things. Having a mindset of praise and thanks from moment to moment can be difficult, but doable through God’s Spirit and our perseverance and our determination to develop the habit.
Eternal Perspectives by Sally Bair
Mindful thanks
Consider this scenario:
A small bus, carrying people home from work, is side-swiped by a speeding truck. The occupants and driver cry out for help as the bus is forced off the road. The shoulder of loose gravel faces a deep, water-filled gully. Miraculously, the bus stops at the shoulder’s edge.
After a moment of stunned silence, everyone speaks at once.
“Wow, what a close call! I feel like I’m about to have a heart attack.” Another voice adds, “What if we’d gone down? No one would find us. We could have drowned.” Still another: “I sure hope I’m not late picking up my son from his practice.”
Someone shouts, “What’s the matter with that driver? He oughta be arrested!” Still another cries, “How will I face our dinner guests tonight? My nerves are shot.”
One person agrees, adding, “Sure brings back horrible memories of when my uncle died in that crash.” And, “Wait till I tell my brother. He won’t believe me.”
A lone voice, from someone who was labeled a Jesus freak and hence avoided, shatters the din. “Praise the Lord! He just saved us all from certain death. Praise the name of Jesus!”
The Bible includes another scenario, different in content but showing the same results. As Jesus walked through a town in Samaria, He met ten lepers. Being considered “unclean,” they stood away from the rest of the crowd. “They lifted up their voices and said, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!’ So when [Jesus] saw them, He said, ‘Go, show yourselves to the priests.’ And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at [Jesus’] feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. So Jesus answered and said, ‘Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?’ and He said to him, ‘Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.’” (Luke 17:13-19)
Life throws us unexpected, stressful curves. Some are good, some not. How we react to them determines our standing with God. When we choose to believe that His love is for us, through His only Son’s death on the cross and resurrection from the dead, our thoughts will center on His goodness in every situation we face.
Lord, with a loud voice, we offer our moment-by-moment thanks for all things. Cause our minds to focus not on ourselves but on You first. As the apostle Paul wrote, may we rejoice in the Lord always. In Jesus’ name, amen.
תגובות