Empty Hands to Gratitude – thanks @brittpendleton

A young man I know recently talked to some students about gratitude. Usually we equate gratitude with stuff we have but Britt used illustrations from the Bible to show that the most grateful hearts are connected to empty hands.

For example, most of us know the story of the women who poured out the whole jar of perfume on Jesus’ head. She could have just poured out a portion and it still would have seemed extravagant, yet she ended up empty handed and was filled with gratitude.

On this Thanksgiving Day this lesson is quite apt. I help people who are unduly burdened by debt. Most are robbed of any ability to focus on gratitude because of the anxiety of losing everything they have worked so hard to obtain. I do not suggest that bankruptcy is something to be desired. Rather, what is desirable is to find peace and gratitude. This comes by no longer clutching onto things and behaviors that fail to fulfill. Sometimes this means recognizing that we cannot overcome our debt without help. Sometimes it means receiving the mirror image of grace offered by the bankruptcy code and emptying your hands.

Thankfully though, that code allows you to keep everything you need and many things you want while still giving you a fresh start. This is a worldly example of redemption that I hope somehow points people to the redemption that matters eternally through Jesus.