A grateful heart

November 25, 2008

Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name;
make known among the nations what he has done.
Sing to him, sing praise to him;
tell of all his wonderful acts.
Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.
Look to the LORD and his strength;
seek his face always.
Remember the wonders he has done,
his miracles and the judgments he pronounced.
Psalm 105:1-5

Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD;
let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come before him with thanksgiving
and extol him with music and song.
For the LORD is the great God,
the great king above all gods.
In his hand are the depths of the earth,
and the mountain peaks belong to him.
The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.
Come let us kneel before the LORD our Maker;
for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture,
the flock under his care.
Psalm 95:1-7

Smacked on the Forehead with Scripture

We've been studying 1 Peter in Cgroup this semester. Last night, I was reading through this weeks passage (4:3-11) and it hit me in the face (figuratively, of course). Not the whole passage, but one verse in particular:

9 Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.

Now, normally I like to think that I'm pretty decent with hospitality. My mom is definitely skilled at making visitors comfortable in our home, and I think I've learned some of that from her. Mi casa es su casa. However, lately that has not been the case.

My friends and I are planning Practice Thanksgiving. At first, I was really excited about this event--a chance to spend a Thanksgiving meal with my closest friends here at school. But lately, I have been grumbling about it a lot--and not for good reasons. Just because it hasn't been going my way, I've been taking it out on everyone else. More people were invited than what we expected, we aren't going to have enough chairs, a couple friends have decided to protest the event and not come (mostly just to get a rise out of us, I think), we aren't going to have enough dishes, the food is going to cost more than planned. None of these are actually problems worth worrying about. They can all be dealt with and easily fixed or managed. So why am I making a big deal out of it? Me, My way. I am far too focused on what I want and not how I can serve others. What is hospitality all about anyway? Putting guests and friends first, and myself last.

So there you have it... God smacked me on the forehead with Scripture. Thank goodness. I needed an attitude adjustment.