It’s the Thanksgiving season. And I love Thanksgiving. I try to practice and express thankfulness and gratitude daily. Some days I do better than others.
It has been my experience that gratitude begins in our hearts and then pours into our behavior. And when we behave in a grateful manner, a healthy sustainable harvest of abundance returns. That looks and feels a lot like grace. Receiving something that we have not deserved. Just simply behaving in a grateful manner brings much better results than trying to pound my head on the pavement thinking it will provide productivity.
And wasn’t the first Thanksgiving about celebrating the abundance of the harvest? And that makes me reflect on the words of Jesus “I have sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.” (John 4:38). That sure looks and feels like grace to me as well. Receiving something that wasn’t deserved.
So maybe a season of gratitude brings a season of grace? A season of receiving a lot of stuff that I don’t deserve? And maybe it’s a long season? So long that it is a continuous pattern that happens daily? That’s too good to be true?!
But I have worked my fingers to the bone. I am tired and weary. Don’t I deserve and have earned what I have received? Maybe. I have reaped what I have sown. But if I do any sort of measuring, what I have reaped is much larger than what I have sown. The harvest is much larger than the seed that was sown.
So what should I do with all this grace? I am going to share it. I am going to give away part of it. Seems like gratitude and sharing pair really well together.
It looks like gratitude brings more grace. And receiving and then giving grace brings a lot of serenity. I enjoy peaceful days with serenity. How about you?
