Fulltime Gratitude!

     Heads up: the next eighteen words you read are going to present a great challenge – "giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ." Those words come from the apostle Paul in Ephesians 5:20. How are you doing with that Bible directive? I have often, with tongue only half-in-cheek, said I wish that verse said "giving thanks sometimes," or "giving thanks most of the time," or "give thanks when life is good." Gratitude would be easier if it was a part-time practice, wouldn’t it?! In context, the apostle declares that full-time gratitude is one of several important attitudes displayed by Christians who are "filled with the Spirit" (see verse 18). Christians are urged to have an attitude of constant gratitude! When life is good or filled with pain, God calls His people to be grateful. Note – Paul was not on a luxury cruise on the Mediteranean Sea when he called for fulltime gratitude. His life circumstances when he wrote Ephesians were far from favorable. Earlier at Ephesians 4:1 we read that he was "the prisoner of the Lord." Later at 6:18 we learn he is "an ambassador in chains." Not a political ambassador, but in his own self-description at 2 Corinthians 5:20a he was an "ambassador for Christ." An ambassador in prison. His crime? Not preaching revolt against Rome’s emperor or Senate – but, "as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God" (2 Corinthians 5:20b). In spite of his all- out devotion to God, in spite of the injustice he suffered from people who could release him, in spite of being in prison for no crime but preaching Jesus, he calls for fulltime gratitude! Is it really possible to "give thanks to God always" – even while in prison? Is fulltime gratitude within reach or is this all just "preacher-talk?" Paul sends a Holy Spirit inspired directive – Christians not only can "give thanks always," but we should – always! And not just to each other but to "God the Father." And not just in the name of good health or good finances or a good life – but "in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." Always! Eighteen words that challenge every Christian to live a lifestyle of fulltime gratitude.

A seven-year-old boy reminds us we can always find reasons to give thanks to God if we think it through. It was his family’s custom on Thanksgiving Day for each family member to give a list of things he / she was thankful for. The list had to be read in turn at the Thanksgiving meal. As the little boy read his list, one thing he expressed thanksgiving for was his eyeglasses. That surprised his parents because he had complained and resisted getting them when the doctor had prescribed them. He explained he had thought it through and was now thankful for the glasses for two reasons. "First," he said, "they keep the boys from hitting me; and second, they keep the girls from kissing me." Friends, we all have good days and bad days. But the testimony of Scripture is that God is good all the time, and all the time God is good! No prison, pressure, disease, disaster or disappointment on earth – no, not even death itself, can lock a true Christian away from even one of the many spiritual blessings we enjoy in Christ! In sickness or in health, in poverty or in wealth, on good days and on bad ones – there are always reasons to give thanks to God. Don’t take even a day off from being grateful. Let gratitude be full-time, as in always.

– Dan Gulley, Smithville, TN