@SandraALovelace
Have you ever noticed how easy it is for people to voice their concerns and complaints?
But how rare it is to offer appreciation or gratitude?
Just the other day, a waitress got wide-eyed when a couple of friends and I expressed our appreciation for her prompt and pleasant service.
What’s the price of lifting a hand in thanks to a driver who stops to let you cross the street?
Or the cost of writing a note to the friend who watched your children when you were sick?
Is the fee for such recognition too high? Is that what keeps us passive?
There are three price tags for saying thank you.
1) Attention
We need to be aware of what’s going on around us in order to catch the kindness offered to us.
2) Time
We need to choose to express our gratitude, whether or not the effort produces a warm glow.
3) Commitment
We need to nurture an attitude of thankfulness, stirred by a heart tender toward God
Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).
The Prize
As we pay attention, express our thanks, and nurture an attitude of thankfulness we enter into the proper worship of our holy God.
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe. For our God is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:28).
How would your home and community change if you chose to imitate the one leper, the only foreigner out of ten who were cleansed, who returned and threw himself at the feet of Jesus his healer to express his thanks? Luke 17:11-19
Run your own research trial this week and tell me what happens.
I really want to know.
Rejoicing in the provisions of the King,
Sandra
*NIV1984, unless otherwise noted
Thank you!
You’re welcome, dear friend.