Day 6: Top Ten
Scripture Reading: Romans 11:33-36
Robertson McQuilkin, former president of Columbia International University, tells of a time when, following his wife's diagnosis with Alzheimer's and the death of his eldest son, he retreated alone to a mountain hideaway, trying to reorient his heart and recapture a love for God that had slowly evaporated in the heat of personal, tragic loss.
It certainly didn't happen in the first five minutes, but after a day devoted to prayer and fasting, he began writing God a love letter, enumerating the gifts he had received from the Lord's hand, worshiping Him with pen and paper. In this season of revival, he identified ten particular blessings from God that just absolutely exceeded his imagination, things he could hardly find words to express how invaluable they were, how impossible life would be without them.
I like that. In fact, I encourage you to flip back through the lists you've been making the last few days and choose a top ten or so--a highlight reel of spiritual blessings that are so big, you could never generate enough gratitude to express what they mean to you and what they tell you about your Savior.
See if like Robertson McQuilkin you find your heart for God renewed by what he called "the reflex action of thanksgiving. My love flamed up from the dying embers and my spirit soared. I discovered that ingratitude impoverishes--but that a heavy heart lifts on the wings of praise."
GRATITUDE IN ACTION
Since a whole lifetime isn't enough to say thanks for these blessings, the next time your mind is troubled by sad or worrisome thoughts, pull out your top ten and consciously transfer your focus from whatever is weighing you down, an start giving thanks for the things on your list.
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