Journalist Fulton Oursler told the story of an elderly nurse called Anna. She had attended Fulton’s birth, plus that of his mother. He honours her for teaching him the best lesson he ever learned about giving thanks and finding contentment: ‘I remember her as she sat at the kitchen table in our house; the…hands folded across her starched apron, the glistening eyes, and the husky old whispering voice, saying, “Much obliged, Lord, for my vittles.” I asked, “Anna, what’s a vittle?” “It’s what I’ve got to eat and drink – that’s vittles,” the old nurse replied. “But you’d get your vittles whether you thanked the Lord or not,” I said. “Sure,” said Anna, “but it makes everything taste better to be thankful!”’ The excitement that comes from getting something new, or even something we’ve worked hard for, is often short lived and quickly replaced by our desire for the next thing. Solomon put it this way: ‘The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing’ (Ecclesiastes 1:8 KJV). The solution is simple – try having an attitude of gratitude! We can do that by stopping regularly to remember God’s goodness which makes it possible for us to enjoy every blessing we have, and by remembering to say, ‘Thank you, Lord.’ The psalmist had a heart of gratitude. He wrote, ‘It is good to give thanks to the Lord, and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; to declare Your lovingkindness in the morning, and Your faithfulness every night’ (Psalm 92:1-2 NKJV). So, always be thankful to God.
