This morning as I put on the little bit of makeup that I wear I felt pretty. Driving to work I admired the beautiful touch the fog had on the bright green trees. Later in the morning the weather was sunny and beautiful followed by a light rain that I could watch through the big double glass doors in "my" office. After I gave a piano lesson during my lunch break my student offered me a piece of cake that was accompanied with pleasant conversation. Throughout the whole day what could have been boring and meaningless was now filled with excitement and life!
Thankful for the small things. It's not just because I'm a Christian. I am thankful because I'm a Christian but being a Christian doesn't make me thankful automatically. There have been days that I wasn't thankful for even the big things in life but rather I could find a reason to dislike it. There were days that I woke up and determined to be thankful and muttered a prayer which consisted of things that I knew made my life better but my heart didn't reflect the words of the prayer. So if being a Christian isn't enough to make us thankful, then why is it so easy to be thankful some days and not at all on other days? Circumstances? I don't think so.
Luke 6:45 says "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh." When our heart is full of selfishness, pride, anger, worry, and bitterness, it is impossible to be truly thankful. Being thankful to God and others is to be aware that we haven't gotten where we are today by ourselves. It means we realize how important others are to us and knowing we could never attain this happiness without God. There is a sense of humility in thankfulness. Sure, it's also an act of the will, but if we harbor bitterness in our heart and refuse to let go of the anger that drives us away from God then determining to be thankful out of obedience to God's word wont do us much good. God isn't concerned as much about us doing the right thing as He is with us being the right person and having the right heart.
So I don't just want to be thankful. I want to have a thankful heart.
