exchange of words

i've just realised that if there is one thing that unites all types of people, one bond that overcomes nearly all barriers of difference, it is the bond of complaint.

unifying the perfect stranger, fuelling the 10 minutes of otherwise potentially awkward conversation with the public transport commuter who is sitting in a proximity with you that would in any normal circumstance be considered inappropriate, the spirit of common complaint is pretty much to us as Germany was to US and Russia - a common enemy, without which, we wouldn't have anything civil to say to one another.

maybe you're exceptional and you aren't subject to this phenomenon. when i first had it suggested to me that we are not a very thankful people, i initially baulked and tried to contend the accuracy of that claim.

but as i examined myself, i realised that i had just spend the 10 minute break between the two halves of a lecture making small talk with the girl next to me. and, sure enough, we bonded over our common complaints, sympathised over the other's unique complaints, and theorised over what circumstances would be more worthy of complaint than others.

seriously!? what is going on here?!

colossians 3.17 says this:
And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

the beginning of chapter 3 reminds God's children that they have died, and because of Jesus, they have been resurrected. our life is hidden with Christ! and that resurrection, that spiritual resurrection, happened on the day that His Spirit breathed life into us and we saw Jesus for who He is, believed in the sufficiency of His grace displayed on that Cross, accepted His sacrifice for our rebellion and unworthiness, and put our faith in Him that just as He suffered for our disobedience, so His righteousness would be credited into our account - because of His great love for us!

!!!!!

we have been brought from death to life. this resurrected life starts NOW.

when we appreciate what God has done in Jesus, how can we not be THANKFUL?

our new standing before God transforms our minds, our hearts, and our very LIVES. because when grace is poured into a person's heart, it cannot help but pour itself out again in the way we live.

and one way in which grace transforms, is in the way we speak. our conversations should be filled with graciousness. thankfulness, not bitterness or perpetual complaint.

a thankful life is a magnetic life. because it shines out as being so markedly different. so markedly content.

and that's because it's marked by the Cross.

thank you, thank you, thank you Jesus!!