Thanks for the Word

     Woke up feeling sort of thread bare and tired.  Some days are just like that, aren't they?  An achy back or a grumpy child or a too long to-do list... sometimes life can just wear us down a bit.  And the last thing we feel like doing is being thankful.  Maybe I'll just wallow a bit down here in the mud of messy discouragement and irritable self-preoccupation, we think.
      But does that ever help us?  Does that encourage others around us?  Does that glorify God?
      When we are all wrapped up in ourselves and our perceived problems, we make a very small package.
      I just reread Jesus' words in John 6 when there was a whole lot of grumbling going on.  The crowds "grumbled about Him" (v.41), they "disputed among themselves" (v.52), and even His disciples "were grumbling" about His words.  At one point, Jesus just flat out tells the crowd, "Do not grumble among yourselves!" (v.43)
     What a reminder that grumbling and complaining among myself, much less among others, just leads to nothing good.
     Rather, Jesus tells them in John 6:63 "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all.  The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life."
      How had I missed that before?  Right after questioning His disciples for their grumbling, Jesus teaches them--and us--it's the Spirit.  It's His Words that give life, that bring wholeness, that bring restoration and healing to frayed and worn out hearts.
     Boy, Jesus' words are Truth, aren't they?  The flesh is no help at all!  Amen to that!  Our aching joints or pounding heads or exhausted bodies are not a lot of help in the battle for joy and thanksgiving. And our fluctuating feelings can often lead us down the wrong road towards selfishness and discouragement.
     Nope, there is one sure foundation for joy, and that is the Spirit and the Word that brings life.  LIFE, the abundant, full, John 10:10 Life with a capital "L" that Jesus came to give us.  His Word.  His Holy Spirit.
     It means choosing to put down the remote control or the computer or the to do list or the catalogue or whatever distractions chase away your hunger for the Word.  And then, by faith,  pick up the Word and start eating His words... and find renewed strength and joy.  I love how James Montgomery Boyce put it: "You are to feed on Christ's words, digest Christ's words, live Christ's words, exude Christ's words."
     When we do that, we suddenly find our problems and preoccupation with ourselves have shrunk down to their proper diminutive size... compared to Almighty God.  He is big!  He is huge!  He has infinite power and provision for anything that faces us!   And He is good... so good.  "Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!" (Ps.107:8)
     So today, let's give thanks for the Word.  For His words that give us life.  And hope.  And joy.  And peace.  And power.  And strength.  And heaven.  To God be the glory.