Challenge
Here is a short challenge for you! Check out the archive for past challenges!

A "thankful" challenge:

Do you remember when you were a kid and mom or dad was always reminding you to say "thank you" after they or someone else did something for you? You know — the time your aunt made dinner and you suffered through gagging it down and then as you were leaving you had to turn and say "thank you for the wonderful dinner, aunt Beatrice."

In our culture today — the words "thank you" are plastered everywhere. On backs of urinals "thank you for flushing" all the way to trash cans that actually talk to you as you throw trash away…it gets the little kids to clean up at taco bell, b/c they get to hear the trash talk to them…

We can grow up with an expectant or lack luster attitude toward saying and meaning thanks. Have you ever wondered what God thinks about the idea of being thankful? I know we have a holiday and all, but how often do you really think about being thankful — versus — the American bent of half—heartedly saying 'thanks', just so you can move on to the next item on your agenda to receive…

God seems to desire a "gratitude attitude" — as you read scripture, sprinkled in there from beginning to end, is this notion of being genuinely grateful. You see it in verses like:

Enter his gates with thanksgiving;
go into his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him and bless his name.
For the Lord is good. - Psalm 100: 4,5

Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. - Philippians 4:6

You can read about the story of the 10 lepers (Luke 17:11—19) — and what you'll see is how only 1 out of 10 guys healed, bothered to come back to Jesus and say thanks. And as that guy did — his connection with Christ grew to a deeper level than what the others knew.

There seems to be this connection between living with a thankful attitude and your depth of connection with God. I want to encourage you this year to strive to be thankful…and watch your relationship with God deepen and grow as you do. The temperature of your heart's gratitude measures your thanks, not by how many casual words you happen to use. You can mutter the words "thank you" and not really mean them — and then you can say them and mean them…they are 2 different things and you have experienced that in your own life. So allow your heart to express genuine thanks for who God is, what he has done for you, the way in which he relates with you, all he's created and how he loves you!

Often, I have young people ask me "what's God's will for my life?" Well, I have found 1 of his wills for you:

Always be joyful. Keep on praying.
No matter what happens, always be thankful — for this is
God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. - 1 Thessalonians 5:16—18

Action steps:

• Choose a "gratitude attitude" — sometimes you have to choose to be thankful
• Say thanks everyday — pick out someone you know and tell them why you're thankful for them
• Whisper thanks to God throughout your day — "keep on praying"
• Make an inventory of what you're thankful for — journal; jot it down when things happen...

— Jack

Challenge Archive

-Jack