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To Be Thankful

Ralph Waldo Emerson observed that if the constellations appeared only once in a thou­sand years, imagine what an exciting event it would be. But because they are there every night, we barely give them a look.

A hungry man is more thankful for his morsel than a rich man for his heavily-laden table. A lonely woman in a nursing home will appreci­ate a visit more than a popular woman with a party thrown in her honor. A person who finally gets his own copy of the Holy Scriptures after seventy-five years of state-imposed atheism is more thankful for his little book than we are for all the Christian books and magazines that overflow our shelves.

One of the evidences of the Holy Spirit's work in our lives is a gradual reversal of that twisted pattern. God wants to make us people who exhibit a thankfulness in proper propor­tion to the gifts and blessings we have received.

One cannot pay God in money for His goodness. The coin of grateful praise is what reaches the heart of God.

In all things. .. .give thanks.