Thanksgiving is just a week away, can you believe that… where did the year go?
Don’t it always seem to go,
That you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone…
Do you remember that song? Big Yellow Taxi. Joni Mitchell. 1969. I’m dating myself, aren’t I? For those of you who are younger, Amy Grant recorded it a few years ago, but, of course, her version wasn’t nearly as good.
The words of this song summarize the plight of so many people: “we don’t often appreciate what we have until it’s too late.”
Lack of gratitude is the greatest hindrance people have today in feeling good about their lives, because most people, instead of feeling grateful for what they have, often spend their energy focusing on what they don’t have.
A survey was done in Orange County, California–one of the most affluent areas of our nation. The question was asked, “What do you need most in your life?” and the number one response was “More money.”
These people already have more money than anyone else on the planet, but they feel they need more. Now, I’m not pointing fingers at the people of California, because I find myself doing the same thing from time to time, and so do many of you.
In this land of plenty, too often we live our lives with a sense of lack.
- I don’t have enough money.
- I don’t have enough time.
- I don’t have enough success.
- I don’t have enough happiness.
As a result, our lives become defined by what we don’t have, and too often we fail to appreciate what we do have until it’s too late.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard someone say:
- I didn’t realize how good my job was until I lost it.
- I didn’t realize what wonderful parents I had until they were gone.
- I didn’t realize how precious my spouse was until he or she died.
- I didn’t realize how important my children were to me until they left home.
- I didn’t realize how wonderful our friendship was until it was over.
You see, the more successful we become, the more affluent we become, the more blessed we become, our biggest challenge is to learn to appreciate–to be truly thankful – for all the good things that have come our way.
It’s a challenge to grow up with a thankful heart.
From an early age we are exposed to a culture of complainers, gripers, grumblers, and critics.
We complain about:
- The weather
- Prices
- Traffic
- Food
- Work
- Neighbors
- Friendships
- Bills
- The government
- The church
- And life in general
- Worst of all, we are ungrateful toward God.
How can we, who have received so much, be thankful for so little?
One of the great indicators of true spirituality is not measured by how many times we go to church, how many bibles verses we can quote, or how long we pray, but it is measured by the level of gratitude that is in our hearts.
When we are ungrateful, the heart of God is saddened, the Holy Spirit is grieved, and the joy of the Lord is quenched within us.
- Being thankful sweetens you, grumbling sours you.
- Being thankful brings sunshine to your countenance, being ungrateful casts a shadow.
- Being thankful brings a melody to your words, criticism makes you sound like a clanging cymbal.
- Being thankful keeps your feet on the pathway of celebration, complaint takes you down the road of despair.
There’s a legend of a man who found the barn where Satan keeps seeds ready to be sown in the human heart. He noticed there were more seeds of discouragement than any other, and was told that this kind of seed can be made to grow almost anywhere.
He asked about it, and Satan reluctantly admitted that there is one place in which he could never get the seed of discouragement to thrive. “Where is that?” the man asked. Satan answered, “In the heart of a grateful man.”
Don’t forget to have an “attitude of gratitude” this Thanksgiving!
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Posted on Nov
18, 2009 by Glenn Smith
in Glenn's posts
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