In, Rather than Because

In his landmark work Life Together, Dietrich Bonhoeffer (a German minister martyred by the Nazis in 1945), wrote:

Because God has already laid the only foundation of our fellowship, because God has bound us together in one body with other Christians in Jesus Christ, long before we entered into common life with them, we enter into that common life not as demanders but as thankful recipients...We do not complain of what God does not give us; we rather thank God for what he does give us daily.

Over the next four Sundays, we will be talking a lot about that for which we are thankful in the life of our congregation, our hopes and dreams for our future, and committing ourselves to celebrating our gratitude and fulfilling our dreams for 2012.

I am convinced that when we look at our community of faith through the lens of gratitude for what God has and is doing, and set aside our own will to seek God's will, we will be amazed at how God will do great things.  ESPECIALLY in a consumer-oriented, demand-driven culture, to think and live in a way that is thankful for God's gracious provision for our needs will be a breath of fresh air and a true statement of who it is that God has called us to be.

Take a moment, right now, and list three things God has given you.  Take the rest of this day, and look at life saying, "Thank You, God."  As it was mentioned in last Wednesday's evening study, our calling is to be thankful IN all things.  May it be so, and may we be transformed by God's work through this perspective.

Grace and Peace, Lamar