When I turn my faucet on I expect fresh clean water to come out. If, instead, the water comes out brown and sludgy, would replacing the faucet fix it?
No, probably not.
You see, the pipes and knobs aren’t the problem. The problem with the water is deeper, something that would require a plumber to tend to, something that I cannot reach by myself.
In the same way, if I want to be thankful, I have to be cleaned up. But I can’t do it on my own. If my thoughts are mostly bitter or grumpy or sad, then being truly thankful is out of my reach. I can slap a new ‘faucet’ on it, like forcing myself to have a ‘positive attitude’, but in the end all I’m doing is dressing up the sludge that lies beyond my reach at the bottom of my heart.
If I want to be thankful, then my heart must be clean, and in order for that to happen, I must ask Jesus to clean it. I can’t do it on my own.
I can’t. I’ve tried. I just make more of a mess.
But with Jesus as my plumber, He is able to dig deep down at the bottom of my sludgy heart and make it clean. And believe me, He’s had to do it more than once since I began to follow Him.
So as we begin this new month, let me encourage you. If you’re struggling with thankfulness and trying to make it happen by yourself, stop looking at the circumstances that surround you. A new ‘faucet’ won’t fix things, but God will. Because dressing up the sludge in our lives won’t help with being thankful.