Field guide · Weather
Us with Godand Gratitude
Forecast: warm and pleasant, with a good chance of noticing what was there all along.
Four tired ways to walk
Each has some truth in it. None of them is the whole story.
Under GodSheep that hide from the Shepherd
I’d better say thank you, or God will think I’m ungrateful and stop blessing me.
Over GodSheep that know the way
Gratitude is good for your mental health, so I list three things every morning.
From GodSheep that follow the grass
Thanks for this, God, and while I have you, here’s what I need next.
For GodSheep trying to be the sheepdog
I’ve been given so much that I owe God a lifetime of paying it back.
Thank the Giver, and not only the gift.
Ten men were healed, and one came back. He turned around, praised God loudly, and fell at Jesus’ feet (Luke 17:15–18). The other nine got the gift. He got the Giver too. Gratitude turns our eyes from what we received to the One who gave it, and that is where it becomes communion. We can give thanks in all circumstances (1 Thess 5:18) because the Giver is with us in every one of them.
Where the Shepherd isHe is the source behind every good thing that reaches us. “Every good and perfect gift is from above” (James 1:17).
Pick one good thing from today and thank God for what it tells you about him, not only for the thing itself.
What does this gift tell me about you?
Fellow travelers
People in Scripture who walked this ground before us.
- The Samaritan leper went back to find Jesus and say thank you to his face (Luke 17:15–16).
- Hannah answered the gift of a son with a song about the God who gave him (1 Sam 2:1–10).
Keep walking
- With God: Sheep that know his voicethe posture every entry points to
- Which Way Are You Walking?a short self-check
- The Field Guideevery entry, by terrain, weather and crossing