Living a Thankful Life

This time of year we usually stop to give thanks.  It is a healthy exercise of our hearts.  But what would it look like to live a life of thankfulness?  Paul describes it pretty clearly in Philippians 4:4-13

His first reminder to live thankfully is to "rejoice in the Lord always".   Why can we rejoice in the Lord always.  Because circumstances are always changing but the Lord never changes.  He is near, completely understands, and His grace is totally sufficient.

Secondly, Paul tells us to pray about everything.  If we pray about everything we would be in constant communication with Lord.  Not a bad idea.  If you are like me, most prayer is asking and hopefully getting answers.  However prayer is really an opportunity to establish our dependence and give us the opportunity to unload our anxiety.  The key however is to couch all of our prayers in thanksgiving.  You never see anxiety and thanksgiving occupy the same space.

Thirdly, Paul says that we should intentionally think about the good stuff.  He starts out with what is true and then moves on to other positive things.  We are programmed to think negatively in our culture. It doesn't take long to believe that if we just watch the evening news.  But if we start with what is true, we can see truth trumping our emotions.  The truth will set us free.

Fourth,  Paul tells us to learn contentment in all circumstances.  Contentment is a journey for all of us but the best way to learn it is release things instead of controlling them.  We also need to experience, in reality or vicariously, the matter of both prosperity and poverty.  Until we experience both we will consistently want more.

Paul concludes this section by saying I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.  That is the main reason we can rejoice in the Lord always.  Happy "Thanks Living"!