Tuesday, September 1, 2009

fill my heart

My 11-year old sometimes talks so quickly I can’t make out what she’s saying. And I don’t think it’s just my ears getting old. I think it’s a symptom of living in a world where everyone’s multi-tasking and the number one prayer seems to be “help me with my time management.” We are a rushed and hurried society and she’s probably afraid she won’t be able to get a word in edge-wise unless she talks quickly enough.

In our staff devotions this morning I was struck by the phrase “fill my heart with gratitude”. Filling takes time. Most of the time we try to get by with a perfunctory “thanks” (which is an abbreviation in itself). But if we are to be filled with gratitude we have to take time to ponder all the ways that God has been good to us and has brought that goodness into our lives through others around us.

Imagine what it would be like to live in a world of thank-filled people. What would happen to anger? To greed? To conflict? Maybe that’s why Paul says we are to be “always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Ephesians 5:20). In fact, being thankful is part of God's cure for worry: “Don’t be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” (Philippians 4:6).

Taking time to consider God’s goodness and give thanks sounds like a good thing to do but let’s face it: it’s pretty low on our list of priorities. We have so many things to do, and most of them are good things that we know God wants us to get done. But maybe he wants them done by thankful people.