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contentment

November rolled around and immediately all thoughts turned towards Thanksgiving. We all love it. It is my son’s favorite holiday even more so than Christmas. Always has been. What can I say other than, he has always loved sausage stuffing.

As November rolled around, so did the posts on gratitude. Hashtags abound with tweets on thankfulness. At first, I thought it was a lovely idea. But as the month has continued, I have found myself wondering ….. What happens the other 11 months? Are we equally as thankful?

Thankfulness comes from contentment:

  • Paul stated, “I rejoice greatly in the Lord” (Philippians 4:10). It was in rejoicing in His God that he found that he was content in whatever situation he faced. Whether he was fed or hungry, living in plenty or want, he had found the secret to being thankful. He rejoiced in His Lord.
  • David, a shepherd boy, acknowledged that his “cup overflows with blessings” (Psalm 23:5, NLT). He was filled with gratitude because he had discovered, “The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need.” (Psalm 23:1, NLT).
  • The writer of Hebrews exhorts us, “…be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, “I will never fail you; I will never abandon you.” (Hebrews 13:5, NLT)

Seems that contentment and gratitude go hand in hand. One seems to fit inside the other. Maybe instead of wanting one more thing, we are to become content with what we already have. I once read and never noted the source of these words:

Contentment comes not from great wealth but from few wants.

In the middle of a month of thankfulness, Black Friday kicks in and we all scramble to hit the malls to get “our wants”. “What do you want for Christmas?”, is the question we have begun to ask.

I am all in for Christmas, don’t get me wrong. I will be buying gifts for those I love. And those gifts may include some of their needs and hopefully some of their wants, which I hope will be to their delight. But I truly hope the month of thanksgiving and gratitude carry over into the month of December.

For it is only as I remember the birth of my Savior – remembering it is in and through Him that all my needs are met – that my heart is filled with gratitude all year long.

(This is an edited repost from 2013)

 

Today I am joining … Testimony Tuesday and Unite and #RaRaLinkup .