How to live gratefully …

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BEING a grateful person is not about finally settling down for one extended, sobering moment before a Thanksgiving meal and thinking about the obvious blessings in your life.

That sobering moment will pass as soon as you’re on seconds or thirds of your Thanksgiving feast, and finally waddle your way back to the television for more football.

Being a grateful person — living gratefully — should be part of who we are. It etches itself onto our character and habits. Our thoughts, our motivations, our desires, our actions are tainted with the fact that we’re a grateful people. As adopted and redeemed children of God, we live gratefully.

How can we pull that off?

How can we be so persistently grateful?

Remember the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross every day.

When we turn our mind’s eye to the cross and see the sacrifice Jesus made for us, it’s nearly impossible to not be drowned in gratitude.

The early Christians used to meet together in homes every day, and there they would observe Communion. On a daily basis they would observe that sacrament established by Jesus Himself specifically to remember Him. And tell me, what do you think — more importantly, what do you feel — when you remember Jesus pouring His life out on a cruel, rugged cross to save you from your sins and the consequence of death?

Gratitude.

The real deal.

Penetrating so deep it almost makes your toes tingle!

All you can do is offer your thanksgiving to God for a gift so gracious. We cannot pay Him back, we can’t earn it in some way. We can only be thankful, and live gratefully for what He has done.

Let me challenge you for the next 30 days to not leave your home without making time to remember Christ on the cross offering Himself for you. If you start your day seeing the sacrifice made at the cross, you’ll start your day thankful, and that will help you to live gratefully that day.

My prayer is that this Thanksgiving Day is stuffed full of fresh blessings for you all! And thank you so much for being the blessing that you are to me.

Scotty