Articles
The Power of Gratitude
“Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.” (Colossians 2:6-7). In the 1980’s, there was a civil war in Sudan, Africa. Millions were slaughtered, millions orphaned. The “Lost Boys of Sudan” were a group of 20,000 boys who walked over a thousand miles, battling snakes and starvation, to seek refuge in Kenya. In 2001, the U.S. government allowed 3,800 Lost Boys to fly here and settle in America. Recently, I watched a movie about three Lost Boys who, when they grew up, were invited to America. Their faces lit up with joyous fascination at the faucet in the bathroom. They were stunned by the stocked shelves in our grocery stores (no hunting required), bewildered by our buildings, confounded by our cars, mesmerized by McDonald’s.
Someone once said, “Gratitude has the power to turn what we have into enough.” As Christians, especially in America, what we have is more than enough. May we remember the Lost Boys, and never take what we have for granted. “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body: and be thankful.” (Col. 3:15). When what we have becomes enough, it chokes out complaint, ignites a giving heart, and brings us to our knees before God. Have you harnessed the power of gratitude?
