Day 18: Thankful

“And whatsoever ye do in word or deed … giving THANKS to God and the Father by him … and be ye THANKful.” Colossians 3:17 and 15b

We live in a very ungrateful world today, do we not? We see and hear it all around us. It is on the news. It is splashed and forwarded all over the internet and social media. But, you and I are called by God to not be like the world around us. No, my friend, we are to be THANKFUL!

Verse 17 above tells us that “whatsoever [we] do in WORD or DEED.” Well, that just nails it right there, does it not? Here we thought that we could just speak words of gratefulness. Now, we are going to have to not only speak words, but our actions will have to follow. Ugh!

Our gratefulness should come from the heart. Matthew 15:18 “But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.” So, if we are grateful, it will come forth out of our mouths. If we are not grateful, our mouths will also tell on us.

Now that we are empty-nesters, I find myself reflecting back on things that I did as a parent and question why I even did some of the things that I did. One thing I questioned myself on is when my child did something wrong to another making them say, “I’m sorry.” Did that make everything better? Umm … I do not think so! It may have made me feel better … knowing that my child told someone they had hurt that they are sorry.

It did not make my child magically sorry inside (where it counts, by the way). I am sure that it did not make them feel any better … because, I mean why should it when all I did was make them say some words that they did not mean at all?

Have you have heard of the little boy whose mother wanted him to sit down in a chair? She kept telling him to sit down and he would not do it. Finally, she got really stern with him and told him (in no uncertain terms) that he was to sit down! Well, he finally acquiesced and sat down … and then mumbled under his breath, “I may be sitting down on the outside, but I am standing up on the inside!”

Did that little boy have the right attitude … an attitude of obedience … from the heart? No, he did not, did he? What about you and I, my friend? How is our attitude? Are we grateful for the things that we have? Are we grateful for the storms that God puts us in … to strengthen and grow us? Are we grateful for the spouse, the children, and the family that we have?

I know it is hard to be grateful for all things … not just in word, but also in deed. To be honest, I have been making an effort to be more grateful in my words … and I have even had people act surprised that I have expressed thanks to them because it is something that they rarely hear. But, how just as important that I make sure that my heart is full of gratitude as well!

Lord, help me to be THANKFUL from the HEART … in WORD and DEED!