“I wish…” was a common statement in my childhood and adolescence. The words that followed this short statement were often my desire for something else—a different situation, a toy, an experience, etc. My parents, upon hearing me say, “I wish…” would say, “Don’t wish your life away.” It was not that my parents were against my having goals or dreams. It was my parents’ insistence that I do not get caught up in what I did not have, missing the reality of the many things I possessed and being thankful.
The tendency to focus on what we don’t possess causes us to miss the truth of our present blessings. We become lost in our wants, not recognizing our holdings. We become discouraged, instead of holding to the adequacy of our present resources. In Ecclesiastes 3:11-13 the author writes, “Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end. So I concluded there is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can. And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God.”
When we live with a heart of gratitude, we notice the blessing of today and we give God thanks. The blessing may be small and may even seem inadequate to provide for more than today; yet we are invited to give God thanks because we know God is faithful to “supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19). With a heart of gratitude, we stop wasting our lives in our wishes and we begin to live our lives to the fullest with the blessings of God.
When we live from a heart of gratitude, it not only flows toward our thanksgiving directed to God. It also flows to the relationships with people who are around us. Our heart of gratitude recognizes the sacrifice, the generosity, and the blessing of people in our homes, our churches, and our communities and we show our thanksgiving. This thankful heart is conveyed through our words we speak, our cards we prepare and send, and our generosity to those who serve us. We become people who in our gratitude of thanksgiving bring a blessing to those who bring us blessings. We lift other people, as gratitude flows from us to them.
How are you experiencing a life of gratitude? Do you give God thanks for what you have, not focusing on what you do not have? Are you sharing your gratitude to those around you who are a blessing to you? Let’s seek in this season of Thanksgiving to be people of gratitude.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for the blessings of today. Forgive me for the times I look at the blessings with eyes wishing for more. Create a heart of gratitude in me. In Jesus’ name. Amen.