Continuing to Follow
How does gratitude help us follow Jesus?
Verse of the Day
“And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.”
Today’s Devotional
This passage has several different images that it brings to my mind: a journey (following), plants or trees (roots), and a house or structure (build). For today, we are going to focus on the journey.
But first, I want to mention that many of the verses we have looked at make it sound like gratitude is an outcome of our obedience. If you do “something”, then you will have gratitude. And that is absolutely true. There are choices we can make consistently that bring us to a place of organic, overflowing gratitude. The gratitude in this verse is the emotion of gratefulness. Which is a gift and a blessing. But we get to the emotion of gratefulness by practicing the habit of choosing to be grateful as part of our daily obedience.
Now let’s talk about our journey. When we have accepted Jesus, we must CONTINUE to follow Him. We are invited to keep going on a journey with Jesus, long after we have been saved by accepting His sacrifice on our behalf.
Now imagine you are on an actual journey and you are walking. The path is varied. Sometimes it is smooth, sometimes it is rocky. The terrain changes every few miles or so. What’s one thing that you would really need on your journey?
Shoes.
If I am walking barefoot, I am more sensitive to where I am walking. I tire more quickly. I get injured more easily. I am likely to get a sticker or a thorn that would impede my progress. I probably won’t make it as far as I would if I had good shoes.
What if being grateful is the equivalent of “shoes” for your spiritual journey? When I choose to be a person of gratitude, I am much less sensitive to the actions and words of others. I have more endurance when I am grateful. I am less likely to be injured by the happenings of this world and its people when I am grateful. Gratitude makes me more aware of the presence of God, which seems like a great thing when I am wanting to be on a journey to follow Him.
David DeSteno, the researcher from Northeastern, went so far as to say that practicing gratitude is like a booster shot for life. It protects us and insulates us from the negativity. He also says that the more we look for opportunities to be grateful, the easier it is for us to find things to be grateful for.
Seeing gratitude like “shoes” for my spiritual journey makes sense to me. I have chronic lower back pain, and the shoes I wear make a huge difference in my day. And nothing makes my back hurt worse than walking barefoot. When my back is really bothering me, one of the first things I do is check my shoes.
What if we did the same thing with our day? When things aren’t going well, do we quickly stop and ask ourselves if we’ve taken the time to be grateful? I had a day earlier this week that was not stellar. I was not at my best. When I took a minute to examine my day, I realized that I had rushed through my time with God and had not been fully present with Him, much less grateful. I’m simply not at my best when I don’t make time to be with the Father before starting my day.
I want to journey well with Jesus. I want to follow Him as closely as I can. If gratitude helps me to do that, then I am willing to do whatever it takes to make gratitude a daily habit.
Today’s Gratitude Challenge 1: Do you have any children on your life? Are you grateful for them? We have much to learn from children. Jesus tell us to be like little children, and that the Kingdom belongs to those who are childlike. Whether the children in your life are in your home or not, how can you express gratitude for them today?
Today’s Gratitude Challenge 2: Have you ever considered how boring this world would be if we were all just alike? Have you ever thanked God for the diversity of His created world and all of His created beings?
Journal Prompts
Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today.
If gratitude is like shoes for your journey with Jesus, what do you have to be grateful for today?
How is your journey with Jesus going?
How could you follow Him more closely today?
How and why are you grateful for the children in your life? How can you actively express that gratitude today?
Are you grateful for the diversity of the world? There is diversity of landscape and weather in different parts of the world. There is diversity of plants and animals. There is diversity among humans and cultures. How and why are you grateful for the diversity of God’s created world and all of His created beings?