Thanksgiving Between Here and There

God will never be in debt to us. He will never owe us for anything we’ve done for him.

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Can we get beyond thankfulness to gratitude?

Thankfulness involves how we feel in the moment. It’s a temporary response to a temporary circumstance. You go through the drive thru at McDonald’s and when the cashier gives you your food, you say, “thank you”. It’s a learned condition. We’re taught from a young age that it’s polite to say thank you in appreciation to people. And if we forgot, “what do you say?” was the prompt we needed.

It’s good, but thankfulness is not enough. But how is gratitude different? It’s not tied to emotion. Something’s are unexpected or unpleasant. With gratitude, the decision is to let the day happen under any circumstances.

5The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”

6He replied,”If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree,’Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.

7”Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field,’Come along now and sit down to eat’? 8Would he not rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink, after that you may eat and drink’? 9Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? 10So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say,”We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.”

Luke 17:5-10

Ask for more faith? The faith of a mustard seed can move mountains. No more, no less is needed. To have faith is enough.

When the servant comes in at the end of the day, does the master thank him for for doing his job and invite him to sit and eat with him? No. How can we expect to receive praise for what’s expected of us?

In the same way, when we take pride in something we’ve done using gifts that were bestowed on us for God’s glory the thankfulness and gratitude are destroyed. Taking credit for something that isn’t ours steals God’s glory. We are expected to continue serving.

How do we do that? There are still people to forgive, love to show, and grace to give. There are still great works of faith to be done.

Do you feel like God owes you after all you’ve done for him? Has he not given you much more than you’ve done for him? Do you feel like you’re waiting on the bonus you’ve gotten from work every year? You’ve gotten it for years. You were never promised it, but you’ve come to expect it. Well, now you’ve already spent it, but it’s not coming this year. This is what happens when we feel like we’re entitled.

Why would Jesus thank us when we’ve been disobedient? Everything we have has come to us from him as a gift. Ours will never match up.

We are unprofitable servants. We can never give him more than he gives us.

Because of what he’s already done for us, out of gratitude, we’ll serve him. When our hearts are right, we serve him out of gratitude.

Thankfulness fades after time, but gratefulness remains even in bad times. We internalize gratefulness and that helps it remain. It improves our relationships because we begin to live as Jesus lived.

So, how can we foster gratitude?

• Start a gratitude journal. Include 3 things you’re grateful for each day. Be consistent.
• Meditation is the practice of talking to yourself. For example: ‘I am grateful for all that I am and what I have’.
• Sign up to volunteer in your community.
• Spend time with loved ones.
• Give items away to others who may need them more than you do.

Have an attitude of gratitude and look forward to hearing the words, “Well done good and faithful servant”!

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