A Gentle Push Toward Gratitude (9)
Robert Dawson
Colossians 1:3-14
Have you ever had a project, whether school, work, or home that you couldn't get started? You knew what needed to be done but for some reason, you couldn't get out of the starting gate? You were like a kid frozen on a high dive after looking over the edge. What you needed was a gentle nudge! What you needed was a friendly shove!
As I sat down to write a message centered on thanksgiving and gratitude, that was how I felt. I needed a gentle nudge...a friendly push. Why? Because we don't always feel thankful, nor do we always gravitate toward praise.
I read a story, something of a parable, about an old drought-stricken town out west. Every day families would make the trek to an old well on the outskirts of town hoping to peer down into the well and see water, but they were always disappointed. One day, an old man, who had grown up in the town and moved away, was passing through. Wanting a drink of water he walked to the old well outside of town. People told him the well was dry, but he insisted there was water. He tied an old tin cup on a string and lowered it into the well and brought it up filled with water and the well began to gurgle and fill with refreshing water.
The people were amazed. They asked how it was possible. The old man answered, "This old well never really runs dry. It only appears that way when people stop drawing from it."
Our thanksgiving and gratitude are like that old well during life's dry and difficult seasons. It's not that we don't have reason to give thanks or offer praise...we've just stopped dipping our cup into the well of God's blessing, one that, because of life's circumstances or the condition of our soul, may look and feel dry but isn't.
Sometimes, as was the case with me trying to write this week, our gratitude and praise need a push, which is what God's Word provided.
Paul's prayer in Colossians 1.3-14 serves as a reminder that gratitude fl ...
Robert Dawson
Colossians 1:3-14
Have you ever had a project, whether school, work, or home that you couldn't get started? You knew what needed to be done but for some reason, you couldn't get out of the starting gate? You were like a kid frozen on a high dive after looking over the edge. What you needed was a gentle nudge! What you needed was a friendly shove!
As I sat down to write a message centered on thanksgiving and gratitude, that was how I felt. I needed a gentle nudge...a friendly push. Why? Because we don't always feel thankful, nor do we always gravitate toward praise.
I read a story, something of a parable, about an old drought-stricken town out west. Every day families would make the trek to an old well on the outskirts of town hoping to peer down into the well and see water, but they were always disappointed. One day, an old man, who had grown up in the town and moved away, was passing through. Wanting a drink of water he walked to the old well outside of town. People told him the well was dry, but he insisted there was water. He tied an old tin cup on a string and lowered it into the well and brought it up filled with water and the well began to gurgle and fill with refreshing water.
The people were amazed. They asked how it was possible. The old man answered, "This old well never really runs dry. It only appears that way when people stop drawing from it."
Our thanksgiving and gratitude are like that old well during life's dry and difficult seasons. It's not that we don't have reason to give thanks or offer praise...we've just stopped dipping our cup into the well of God's blessing, one that, because of life's circumstances or the condition of our soul, may look and feel dry but isn't.
Sometimes, as was the case with me trying to write this week, our gratitude and praise need a push, which is what God's Word provided.
Paul's prayer in Colossians 1.3-14 serves as a reminder that gratitude fl ...
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