Colossians 3:17 "And whatever you do or say, let it be as a representative of the Lord Jesus, all the while giving thanks through him to God the Father.
" During a recent conversation with my sister, she told me a story that is worth repeating...
'A young man had recently graduated high school and was preparing to go off to college.
He asked his father if he could have a car to celebrate his high-school graduation and as his going-away present, since he was now going to be a college student, away from home and needing to stand on his own two feet.
His father said no, feeling that a car was not what his son needed.
When the day finally arrived and they said good-bye, the young man's father handed him a Bible.
As he unpacked his belongings at college, he once more held the Bible in his hands, still totally unimpressed with his father's parting gift.
Casually he tossed it into the back of his cupboard and promptly forgot about it.
Sometime during the 4 years of college, the young man's father passed away.
Heart-broken, he went into his room to pack his suitcase.
Since he was an only child and his mother had passed away years before, he needed to go home to pack up the house and settle his father's estate.
As he packed, he stumbled upon the Bible his father had given him.
Gently he held the book in his hands, allowing the tears to flow freely.
Sitting on the side of his bed he opened the Bible for the first time since his father had given it to him.
As he flipped through, reading various sections, he felt a bit better.
Then, just as he was about to close the Bible, something caught his attention at the back of the Bible.
He opened it again and, to his amazement, found a key taped to the inside of the cover.
Beneath it, in his father's handwriting, this note was written: "To my son for his high-school graduation, Enjoy the car.
I love you.
Dad.
" As the young man read and re-read the brief note, he sobbed.
All this time that he could have been enjoying the car, it had been standing at home, unclaimed.
He sobbed for the lost opportunity of being able to thank his dad.
Oh how he regretted his attitude now! And even though he knew he could change his attitude and take with him, forever, the most profound lesson he would ever learn, he knew he would still not be able to make up for the time or opportunity that he had lost because of his unthankful attitude...
' And so it is for each of us.
Our attitude determines our behaviour.
If we choose to sulk and be ungrateful when we do not receive what we wanted, inevitably we behave in a manner that leads to regrets; simply because we then miss the opportunity to see things as they really are.
A bad attitude blinds us to the truth.
There are many Scriptures that tell us to 'give thanks'.
But in Psalm 100:4 and Colossians 3:15-17, we are told not only to 'give thanks, but to 'be thankful'.
At first glance this may look like the same thing, but it's not.
To 'be thankful' is to have an attitude of gratitude.
It's an ever-present thankfulness from within, regardless of whether we get our own way or not.
To 'give thanks', is the natural outworking of that inward attitude.
And though our circumstances are not always of the greatest and trials most assuredly will visit every one of us, this fruit of 'giving thanks' can be cultivated in each of us...
if we will obey the Lord and allow an attitude of 'thankfulness' to develop in our heart.
+
" During a recent conversation with my sister, she told me a story that is worth repeating...
'A young man had recently graduated high school and was preparing to go off to college.
He asked his father if he could have a car to celebrate his high-school graduation and as his going-away present, since he was now going to be a college student, away from home and needing to stand on his own two feet.
His father said no, feeling that a car was not what his son needed.
When the day finally arrived and they said good-bye, the young man's father handed him a Bible.
As he unpacked his belongings at college, he once more held the Bible in his hands, still totally unimpressed with his father's parting gift.
Casually he tossed it into the back of his cupboard and promptly forgot about it.
Sometime during the 4 years of college, the young man's father passed away.
Heart-broken, he went into his room to pack his suitcase.
Since he was an only child and his mother had passed away years before, he needed to go home to pack up the house and settle his father's estate.
As he packed, he stumbled upon the Bible his father had given him.
Gently he held the book in his hands, allowing the tears to flow freely.
Sitting on the side of his bed he opened the Bible for the first time since his father had given it to him.
As he flipped through, reading various sections, he felt a bit better.
Then, just as he was about to close the Bible, something caught his attention at the back of the Bible.
He opened it again and, to his amazement, found a key taped to the inside of the cover.
Beneath it, in his father's handwriting, this note was written: "To my son for his high-school graduation, Enjoy the car.
I love you.
Dad.
" As the young man read and re-read the brief note, he sobbed.
All this time that he could have been enjoying the car, it had been standing at home, unclaimed.
He sobbed for the lost opportunity of being able to thank his dad.
Oh how he regretted his attitude now! And even though he knew he could change his attitude and take with him, forever, the most profound lesson he would ever learn, he knew he would still not be able to make up for the time or opportunity that he had lost because of his unthankful attitude...
' And so it is for each of us.
Our attitude determines our behaviour.
If we choose to sulk and be ungrateful when we do not receive what we wanted, inevitably we behave in a manner that leads to regrets; simply because we then miss the opportunity to see things as they really are.
A bad attitude blinds us to the truth.
There are many Scriptures that tell us to 'give thanks'.
But in Psalm 100:4 and Colossians 3:15-17, we are told not only to 'give thanks, but to 'be thankful'.
At first glance this may look like the same thing, but it's not.
To 'be thankful' is to have an attitude of gratitude.
It's an ever-present thankfulness from within, regardless of whether we get our own way or not.
To 'give thanks', is the natural outworking of that inward attitude.
And though our circumstances are not always of the greatest and trials most assuredly will visit every one of us, this fruit of 'giving thanks' can be cultivated in each of us...
if we will obey the Lord and allow an attitude of 'thankfulness' to develop in our heart.
+
SHARE
