Thankfulness

Thankfulness: the opposite of complaining This isn’t going to come easily, it will take a little training It’s the concept of being content with all that we own And being grateful for all the love that God has shown We so often think that our lives are so rough Because we are so focused on getting, because we think we don’t have enough But stop and take a look around You’re sitting alive in luxury safe and sound We really don’t understand how fortunate we are We have food, water, a house, and usually more than one car There are millions upon millions of people less fortunate People that we don’t share our fortune with There are people out there who have absolutely nothing And this is for real, I’m not bluffing They’re not sure where they are going to get their next meal Take a minute and imagine how that must feel C’mon, let that sink in And that’s only one place I can begin So many people are completely broke, struggling to survive, have failing health, live in way, and have nowhere to live And you’re trying to say that YOU have nothing to give? We sit here in our beautiful homes, brand new clothes, full of food, iphone in hand While there are people out there who are too sick and weak to stand Now to this, how are we going to react? Cause this sure isn’t fiction, it’s 100% fact Are we going to ignore this and just sit around? Are we comfortable just sitting in the background? I say as children of God we need to take action We need to get out there, not being swayed by every little distraction Serving and giving generously to others doesn’t follow “The American Dream” But maybe that’s not the right way to live, as though it may seem I say it’s time for us to lay down our pride Are you going to serve? It’s your turn to decide We are all one body, we all have the same worth That’s true for all the people here on earth By Jesus we are called to love and not just sit around Cause when we die, we don’t want to be just another corpse in the ground In James chapter one we are called to serve the orphans and widows in their distress We know exactly what to do, we don’t need to guess Now this subject I really want to address And my feelings, I want to express If we were really thankful for all that we own We would be OK to step out of our comfort zone And if we are truly grateful We would serve others in any way we are able By doing this, we express our care for those who need it That we can go out and DO something, we actually believe it I may have just rambled on, but I wanted to make a point But now you know my personal viewpoint Now I’m not just talking to you, this also applies to me So often I don’t fill the role I was called to be But I believe that thankfulness isn’t just an emotion, it requires action to make it true So now here’s the big question, what are you going to do? Are you going to get out there or continue to stand on the sideline? Are you going to be absolutely thankful or continue to whine? You can try to convince yourself that people are fine But think about it while on that $50 meal you dine You can help change a life for pennies a day That’s right, only one dollar a month you have to pay “Dollar for the Poor” is an organization that’s making a change Only one dollar a month? That just sounds strange But it’s true, they’re making an impact What if we all heard this and could properly react? One dollar a month and you can change a life For that little donation, you can save someone from a cycle of strife But it’s not just about money, it’s also about giving your time This is real talk, not just a pantomime There are so many things we aren’t thankful for every day What if all of it was suddenly stripped away? Could we still be thankful and love God without all our stuff? Will his constant love and providing actually be enough? Our thankfulness shouldn’t be based off our prosperity or wealth We so often blame God when loved ones have failing health We should be thankful for the lives that we already live Because God’s perfect gift of salvation is the best anyone can give So don’t forget today, offer God your true thanks for life and your daily bread Because apart from him, we would be left for dead