SHARON ROCKWELL | CONTRIBUTOR
When I had emergency shoulder surgery from an accident while in Yellowstone, I was transported in a two-hour ambulance ride to a small hospital in Jackson. I was blessed with a fine orthopedic team there, very experienced from treating broken bones from all sorts of extreme sports accidents. When it came time to leave the hospital, the man who brought my meals each day presented me with a loaf of homemade pumpkin bread wrapped in cellophane with a note attached that said he hoped this would make my trip home a little sweeter. It was a little thing, but his kindness really lifted my spirits!
Opportunities to Bless Others
In the Thanksgiving season, we are provided with so many opportunities to practice being thankful by helping others. We give prayers of thanks for God’s grand plan for our redemption, but we also give thanks for His simple daily provisions. As the hands and feet of Jesus, we must be on the lookout for those opportunities where we can make life a little sweeter for someone else. It is the appropriate response for all our blessings.
It is easy to overlook these possibilities. A neighbor you know is alone for the holiday. She might be included in yours. Those who must work at the grocery store on the holiday may appreciate a kind word of thanks. Not a day goes by that the mail does not contain a heart-warming request for donations. There are requests for holiday gifts for veterans and their families, meals for the homeless, and shoes for needy children. We might like to help them all, but it is easy to just pass.
Paul gave practical advice to believers about living in grateful response to God’s blessings. “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Col. 3:17). We are called to resemble God the Father and His Son, Jesus, in compassion for others, in humble service, in kindness to all, and with gratitude in our hearts. This includes all our daily actions, great and small.
Fruits of our Faith…
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