A heavenly treasure...
"Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe..."
-Hebrews 12:28
The Bible is a huge and wonderful book, a library, in fact, containing many books all inspired by God. This singular book functions as the greatest source of textual authority for Christians around the world. One of the most common instructions in the Bible is the encouragement to be grateful to God. To the best of my knowledge, every book in the Bible mentions something about gratitude or thanks.
Though everyone seems to think gratitude is a good thing, few of us see it as a moral imperative, and even fewer understand what a gift it is. Being a grateful person is a heavenly treasure, because gratitude, perhaps more than anything else, is indelibly linked to happiness.
Not only does God command us to be grateful, to have events or festivals that remind them us be thankful, but he wants us to be thankful because a thankful life is a happy life. Think about it. It is nearly impossible to picture a terribly unhappy person that is also thankful and grateful. Can you think of anyone who is wonderfully thankful and lives out of an inner sense of gratitude, but still is unhappy?
Happiness and gratitude are so linked that they are nearly the same thing. In order to be happy, we must be grateful!
Prayer: Dear Lord, help me rid my life of attitudes and patterns that cause me to be ungrateful. I want to live each day thankful for all you have provided for me, your beloved child. Amen.
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