Thinking Thanking

When I first got into working with a real estate investor, I knew very little about real estate. The fact they hired me in the first place should make even the most staunch atheist believe in divine intervention.

Not often, but sometimes we invest in mobile homes. Which is odd because one of the first things I learned about them was that they actually depreciate. Like a car, over time they lose value.

But we have actually done very well purchasing them at the right price, adding value to the homes, and then reselling them.

We have a knack for taking in what should be a liability and turning it into an asset. We do this by appreciating the depreciation. Meaning, we know how to put value back into what has lost its value.

New countertops. New flooring. New light fixtures. Fresh paint.

The next thing you know, where we placed our focus becomes a focal point for the new buyer. They appreciate the appreciation.

Now before you fall asleep as I drone on about investing, let me bring this back to your own home.

In our lives we have so much self-imposed depreciation. We lose the value in what we have. What should be a reason to thank God we often don’t even think about.

We are no longer thinking thanking.

I know depression can be caused by a cascade of complex issues, but no one can deny that what we often feel under the surface isn’t simply depression but depreciation.

A life spent not seeing what has been spent on it is a life that misses the rose for the thorns. The beauty for the bugs. It becomes a life that no longer stops to smell the roses.

Sidebar, I don’t think they actually smell that good. But I also liked the smell of gas as a kid, so my olfactory preferences can’t be trusted.

Speaking of noses, your nose has been in your field of vision all day. You just haven’t noticed it.

Don’t believe me? Try to look at it.

Hopefully your eyes just uncrossed and you are back to reading.

Your nose is always there, occupying a small part of everything you see. Your brain edited it out.

Neuroscientists call this perceptual filtering. Your brain constantly ignores what has become familiar so you can focus on what seems new.

I wonder if this happens to us spiritually.

We stop appreciating the appreciation.

What if the greatest gifts in our life haven’t disappeared but they’ve simply become familiar?

The spouse who still chooses you.

The children whose laughter once answered your prayers.

The Bible sitting within arm’s reach.

The mercy of God that greeted you again this morning.

The next breath you didn’t earn.

A clean glass of water.

The smell of gas when I was a kid...

Just kidding.

None of our blessings are absent.

They’ve become so constant that your soul filters them out.

Maybe gratitude isn’t finding something new to appreciate. Maybe it’s seeing what stopped feeling remarkable.

Sometimes the greatest miracle isn’t that God gives us more. It’s that He opens our eyes to what’s right under our nose.

Imagine what our lives would be like if we started appreciating more. I bet it would appreciate more. The value would come back. And in the process, so would we.

Over 50 million copies of The Purpose Driven Life have sold. We are all obsessed with knowing our purpose and God’s will. Where do we fit?

Yet the Bible says it pretty blatantly.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Rejoice. Pray. Give thanks.

Not the Live, Laugh, Love we were looking for, but it’s close.

Try to have a bad day while you rejoice, pray, and give thanks. It’s pretty hard.

Because there is something about thinking about thanking that really wakes us up. It’s caffeine for the soul.

And the more you don’t want to rejoice, pray, or give thanks, the more you need to.

It is the antidote to the sickness of depreciation.

You become an environment that bitterness and anger can’t grow in.

When my kids were little, they had those squeaky shoes. Every step sounded like a dog with a chew toy.

It was fantastic. If I heard the squeak, I knew they were close and not in trouble.

But when the squeaking stopped?

That’s when I got suspicious.

It meant they’d wandered too far or were getting into something they shouldn’t.

I’ve seen this in grown-ups too.

When someone’s faith grows quiet, something’s usually off. When they no longer give thanks. When they no longer pray.

Not that faith always shouts, but it does live.

And life has a sound.

You don’t need a bullhorn.

Even a whisper of worship rattles hell.

You can tell which team is losing a game by whose fans are quiet.

You can tell who’s losing spiritually by who’s stopped making noise.

I knew an 80-year-old man named Hireum. Pronounced Hire-em. Imagine having that name at the top of your résumé. You’re getting that job.

Hireum was so faithful to God. You would be having a discussion with him about the weather and he would say out of nowhere, “Thank God.”

You would talk about sports and he would randomly say, “Hallelujah.”

It was like he had holy Tourette’s.

But Hireum had it right.

His life is a portrait of a godly legacy.

Not because he didn’t face bad things.

But because he saw the good in his life, he had a good life.

Get your thanks back today.

Sing worship songs way too loud in your car.

Say thank you.

Appreciate the appreciation.

Take stock of how richly blessed you are.

You will find that saying thanks isn’t just good manners but a good life.

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