“What you say flows from what is in your heart.” Luke 6:45 (NLT);
“I thank my God every time I remember you.” Philippians 1:3 (NIV)
Some people may think that sending “Thank You” notes is old fashioned. However we do it, it should never become old fashioned to
acknowledge our appreciation for others. Like the verses above say, if our hearts are in the right place, then it should be natural to speak words of thankfulness, or put it in writing. I have tried to remember to do this, but I know I have failed many times. Often, we might find ourselves saying, “I will do that one of these days.”
Recently, I realized that I had waited too long to do this. I had often wanted to express my appreciation to a certain friend from way back when we were teenagers. At the time, our church youth group used to play softball every Friday during the summer. Each week, different ones would be captains and would choose their team for that evening. My girlfriend and I were not very good players, so most captains never picked us—we just somehow ended up on one of the teams.
But this one fellow would always pick my friend and me first to be on his team. What encouragement! So, not too long ago, I thought I
would try to track him down and tell him about those incidents many years ago. I was surprised to find out that he had passed away suddenly not very long before. That made me sad—it was another missed opportunity to express my appreciation.
This is just a reminder to all of us to never put things off that we may be prompted to say or do. Most of all, we need to give thanks and
praise to God each day, then to our family and friends. Let us bless and encourage others!
– Bessie McPeek
Council Fire is a collaboration with Intertribal Life Ministries and Native Evangelical Fellowship of Canada.
The Council Fire Daily Devotional Book Set is available on the Intertribal Life Ministries website.
Learn more about Council Fire at councilfire365.org