If I were to ask you what one
thing stands out in your mind about the Apostle Paul, what would your answer
be? As I study the life of Paul, the one
thing that stands out in my mind is his gratitude. You just never seem to find Paul discouraged,
even though he was beaten several times, put in prison, and often threatened
with death. He had to travel in constant
danger of being robbed; he was shipwrecked and lived a constant life of peril;
but in spite of all of the above things, Paul was constantly in a spirit of
thanksgiving.
· I Corinthians 1:4a, “I thank my God always on your behalf,…”
· Ephesians 1:16a, “Cease not to give thanks for you,…”
· Philippians 1:3, “I thank my God upon every remembrance of
you,”
· Colossians 1:3, “We give thanks to God and the Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,”
· I Thessalonians 1:2, “We give thanks to God always for you all,” And in our text, Paul thanks God for Timothy (II Timothy 1:3).
Paul
was a thankful man.
The devotional book, Springs in the Valley, tells of a man
who found a barn where Satan kept his seeds ready to sow in the human
heart. He found that the seeds of
discouragement were more numerous than the others, and he learned that those
seeds could be made to grow almost anywhere.
But when Satan was questioned, he reluctantly admitted that there was one
place in which he could never get the seed of discouragement to grow.
“And where is that?”
asked the man.
Satan replied sadly,
“In the heart of a grateful person.”
What to do:
✞ Ask God to give you a grateful heart.
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