Gratitude part 1 - November 21, 2009

Good Sunday morning! The week of Thanksgiving begins! Why wait until Thursday to be grateful? Are you grateful that you have a job? What if you were expected to be grateful that you didn't? The same could be asked about many of the things we are grateful for - homes, cars, fancy clothing, electronics... you name it, we are grateful when we have it, but we are also to be grateful when we don't. We are right to be grateful for those things that God has blessed us with, but we can also be grateful when we don't have something we want. God provides for our needs, but doesn't give us everything we want. Sometimes it takes someone we think to be blessed beyond reason to show us the real value of material things.

We have all heard tales of the excess of rich folks. Sometimes a lottery winner will run out and buy a dozen different cars, or have some huge mansion built, and we look and say, "If only..." Years later we may find that same 'winner', broke and in debt after losing half their winnings to divorce and the other half to insane spending. They may tell us to hear their story of losing money, happiness, and family in hopes of getting us to stop playing the lottery. We look at them and say to ourselves, "I wouldn't fall like that..." We may want to take that up with God first, and learn to be not only content, but grateful for where we are now.

Some folks have learned the value of their stuff by giving it away. That may seem a bit on the backwards side. Wouldn't selling the stuff for a good price be a better measure of its value? If money were the only measure, then that would be true. On the other hand, too much stuff or placing too much value in stuff can be more of a burden to us than we realize. Test yourself in this. Take something you value highly and lend it out to a friend for a day. If all you can think about is what is happening to that stuff of yours, perhaps you have placed too much value in the stuff and not enough in your friend! Giving the thing away might free you of that boat anchor on your soul.

Tomorrow - as we look at our gratitude this week - you don't have a problem with placing your stuff before God in your life, but you still have a whole lot of it; can God use you and your stuff, just as you are?

Bucky