Gushing with Gratitude
I have to admit that I’m an official gravy-sucker. If you’re not familiar with the south, that generally means you love gravy so much you’re even willing to drink it. That’s me; just ask Kim. During our family Thanksgiving, we have lots of gravy and I love to fill my plate with the turkey (white meat only) and all the delectable side dishes and then pour gravy over the whole plate so it saturates everything! It’s soooooo good. Any fellow gravy-suckers out there?
When it comes to general thanksgiving, God clearly tells us to be like gravy-suckers and saturate our lives with gratitude. Just pour it all over our lives and circumstances because we know He is working in and through everything.
“In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:18).
“Always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, even the Father” (Ephesians 5:20).
Did you notice? This is God’s will for you…always (unending)…in everything (unconditional). In other words, let it permeate every aspect of your life.
“Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude” (Colossians 2:6-7).
The word “overflowing” literally means to superabound in quantity and quality, to be excessive. It’s like water pouring from an open hydrant, blood gushing from a wound, joy around the birth of a newborn baby, or gravy saturating your thanksgiving dinner.
To gush with gratitude is not easy or automatic, but when you don’t:
It devalues God’s preeminence in your life. (Ingratitude doesn’t value God’s greatness and goodness - Psalm 95:1-5; 106:1.)
It depletes God’s power in your life. (Ingratitude switches from supernatural power to will-power - Eph. 1:18-20.)
It depreciates God’s provision in your life. (Ingratitude forgets the greatest sacrifice God made for your salvation – 2 Cor. 9:15.)
It degrades God's purpose in your life. (Ingratitude acts like the 10 lepers who didn’t stop to honor God and His glory – Luke 17:11-18.)
It dishonors God’s providence in your life. (Ingratitude insults the good God is orchestrating with every detail of your life – Rom. 8:28.)
C.S. Lewis said, "We ought to give thanks for all fortune: if it is good, because it is good; if it is bad, because it works in us patience, humility, and the contempt of this world and the hope of our eternal country."
As you anticipate your Thanksgiving traditions, let it remind you that God wants you to gush with gratitude.
Let the gratitude flow and the gravy as well!
Pastor Jeff