Of All the Undone Things.........Monday

Thank you, yes you, for reading this devotional. I am so grateful that you take the time every so often to click on a link, and read what's written on any given day. It is a privilege for all of us to take part in this collection of encouragement that we call "Paint God Into Your Day" devotionals.

Do you still receive junk mail in your physical mailbox? I do. Most days I don't receive anything but unsolicited mail. Occasionally a bill, a reminder, or even a card arrives. My email inbox is full of things I had interest in once upon a time, but it has become junk mail to me now. But one of my regular emails is a quote for the day:

 “Feeling gratitude and not expressing
 it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.”
― William Arthur Ward 

  

Mr. Ward is one of America's most quoted inspirational authors. These words inspire me to move communicating my gratitude to a place on my to do list. I am full of good intentions. I send a text and think to myself, "Hardly anyone sends a thank you note anymore" or "I will, later" but then I forget until I think it's too late and it seems awkward to send one now.

But I wouldn't do that with a present. Even if it was 3 months later, I would hand you your birthday gift and say, "Sorry for the lateness, but happy day!" Which is exactly what I am going to strive to do with the less tangible gift of thankfulness. This is a perfect time to start as we begin the Thanksgiving and Christmas season. And I am not going to wait for new reasons to say thanks, but when I have a thought of gratitude, I am going to immediately put it on my to do list to send a note. I will jot down their name, and reason I thought of them. Then I will write and send that note!

Which brings me right back to you, our devotional readers. To share how I fumble, stumble, and fall is meant to show how faithful God is to bring me to my senses to get back up again. When I was young and inexperienced I hoped one day to write about my view of God. Now I am grateful to be able to share, through glimpses of my reality, God's view of us.

I give you a new commandment: that you should love one another.

Just as I have loved you, so you too should love one another.

By this shall all [men] know that you are My disciples,

 if you love one another [if you keep on showing love among yourselves].

John 13:34-35 AMP

Dear God, thank You for Your faithfulness to show me what I need to be paying attention to. I know I can't do everything, so I appreciate Your reminders of what should be my priorities. Thank You for the nudge to express gratitude specifically and intentionally and in so doing be sharing the love You have poured into my heart- I know that love is not from me because the heart is deceitful above all things (see Jeremiah 17:9), but instead it is Your gift given to me intended to be shared with others. In Jesus name, amen.

Written by Mary M. Wilkins 

 Brandon Heath performs "As Long As I'm Here"