On
the evening of Tuesday, November 11, many people left the warmth and
comfort of their homes to stand in the cold on dark, rural roads and
look at the night sky. They were lured by the promise of spectacular
Northern Lights, and they were not disappointed. Personally, I do not
remember ever seeing them so bright and red. Stretching right across
the sky and even over the top of us, they were amazing!
The next day, my Facebook
feed was flooded with pictures of the Northern Lights. It was as if
people could not help themselves. They had seen something so beautiful
and amazing that they had to acknowledge and share it.
To me, that is a good picture
of what gratitude should look like in our lives. Our blessings should
overwhelm us to the point that we must see, celebrate, and share them.
Thanksgiving should not be a one-time, limited, “Oh, isn’t that nice!”
affair. Rather, it should be a constant mindset and the lens through
which we see our world.
To that point, it is
interesting to note that, in the Bible, the word that most often
modifies the idea of gratitude is “overflowing”. “So then, just as you
received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him…
overflowing with thankfulness!” (Colossians 2:6-7). “The grace that is
reaching more and more people [is causing] thanksgiving to overflow to
the glory of God.” (2 Corinthians 4:15).
Gratitude makes a difference.
As someone pointed out, “Happiness does not depend on what you have or
who you are. It solely relies on what you think”. Or, as Marc and
Angel Chernoff state, “No amount of regret changes the past. No amount
of anxiety changes the future. But any amount of gratitude changes the
present”.
Practice seeing the good in
everything instead of focusing on the bad. Let your thanksgiving grow
and overflow. Doing so will change your life.
“Whatever is true, whatever
is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely,
whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think
about such things” (Philippians 4:8).
Could you be described as overflowing with thankfulness?
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