"THANKFUL, THANKFUL, THANKFUL"

"Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful." Colossians 4:2

I love, love, love Paul's short and sweet directives. So often in life we get these long drawn out explanations of what to do. It is like directions. Give me the short and sweet step by step clear notes. Not a story or a paragraph of filler for me. Just as Jack Webb on Dragnet used to say "Just the facts, ma'am." I think I sometimes love Judge Judy for the same reason. Cut to the chase and get to the point. Don't sugar coat it or beat around the bush. Somebody just lay it out the way it is, and let's render a decision. We are so indecisive and try so hard too often, to soft sell or explain the details to a fault.

Devote yourselves to prayer Paul says. We devote ourselves to many things, but not often enough prayer. We devote ourselves to talking, talking, talking, and more talking. Much of our talk is because we do not know what to do. So....... we should pray. Pray for direction. Second directive is to be watchful. My dad said to 'keep my eyes open'. We should be aware of our surroundings and look at the wider lens of what is happening. This can keep us from jumping to conclusions. By the way, try praying before you jump about anything. To watch, you must be quiet and still. So hard to do. Funny, we watch when we should participate, and participate too often when we should just watch. Third directive is to be thankful. Do any of these three and it can lead to the other two. Oh, how many times I have changed my mind and hence what I say by being thankful. Simple thankfulness is one of the easiest ways to change your disposition. We are dispostioned by our ungratefulness more often than not. If I will count my blessings, I will praise God. If I will praise God, I will hear Him in me, responding.

I am going to pray more short and sweet prayers, and watch more carefully, and be thankful that I can. Then I will see what God is doing more clearly. Join me. I am thankful, thankful, thankful to be able to share this with you today. Hope it blesses you as it has me.

In His grip,
Pastor Fred

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