Manna Monday-The Gift of 86,400 seconds

Quote taken from (http://www.quotegarden.com/gratitude.html)

86, 400 seconds. That's the amount of time we have been given in each day to say "thank you" to God, to our family and friends. It's saying "thank you" to people who do little things for us like carrying out our groceries or changing the oil in our car. It's looking for the moment, the tiniest moment, to give thankfulness as a gift to someone else. Each day is a gift from our creator and life is short. And we often take the life we have been given for granted. We don't mean to. But we do. The Bible says, "You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Each man’s life is but a breath." Psalm 39:5. With that being said, we should be embracing life, embracing every second as if it were a gift.

 a life change. What if you woke up every morning embracing the time the day to be thankful instead of being discouraged, angry, jealous, envious, bitter, or doubting God? Imagine what could happen in your life if you embraced thankfulness instead of ungratefulness. 86,400 seconds....that's what we've been given.  Yet, we are apt to think the opposite way and say, "I don't have time" or "I will say thank you later."
When we say "thank you" we are saying to another person, "I appreciate you. You are of value to me. What you have done for me has not gone unnoticed."

The Bible leads us in the way of thankfulness. It instructs us what to thank God for. Psalm 118:1 says, "Give thanks to the LORD for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting." The Psalmist in Psalm 118 continues to thank God for the following:

• "The LORD answered me and set me in a large place" (v.5).
• "The LORD is for me..." (v.6).
• "the LORD helped me" (v.13).
• "The LORD is my strength and song (v. 14).
• "He has become my salvation" (v. 14)
• "This is the day which the LORD has made" (v. 18)
• The LORD is God and He has given us light" (v. 27)

An attitude of thankfulness is fostered by reading the Bible. The longer we live our lives away from the Bible, the easier it will be to become ungrateful. No doubt we will find many things in the Bible to thank God for which will in turn spill over into our living. When we thank God, we are acknowledging Him and not ourselves. When we thank God we are living in obedience. Obedience to God brings blessings. I believe we miss many blessings in our lives because we are selfish and disobedient. These are the two things that lie at the root of ungratefulness. Our greatest example, Jesus, thanked His Heavenly Father: “Father, I thank you that you have heard me.  I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me" (John 11:41-42). If He took time to thank God so can we. Embrace each day with thankfulness instead of ungratefulness. And remember:



(Picture taken by me!)

What will you do with your 86, 400 seconds today? Will your seconds be filled with thankfulness or ungratefulness?