Return to Sender

Part 4 of the post-Easter series, "Cristo Vive" (Christ Lives). People always say that it's important to maintain a heart of thanksgiving, an "attitude of gratitude" where we count our blessings and remember why life isn't as bad as we might think. However, the joy God wants us to have isn't just about being thankful for what we have, it's in being thankful for God himself: as the author of life and death, as the one sovereign over all things, as the one who loves us and knows what's best for us. This is a heart of thanks that transcends our circumstances, whether good or bad. It's a heart of thanks that calls us to live our lives returning the favor, to return to God everything he has most graciously given to us.