In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.  – First Thessalonians 5:18

The leaders of this country knew something, something vital about people. If they are not led to do otherwise, people will gripe and complain and insist on their rights.

It’s human nature. Ask any pastor. Ask any school principal. Ask any parent.

Ask our political leaders.

And when people gripe and complain, the infection spreads like wildfire and does just as much damage.

Firefighters know the way to head off a big fire is to light a backfire.

My uncle was a forest ranger in Bankhead National Forest in north Alabama. When I was 15, he hired me to help him for part of the summer. Two dollars a day it was! Not much, but it was two dollars more than this farm boy was making!

I still recall him saying, “Joe, do you know how to set a backfire?” I had no clue. He showed me. The fire was up ahead and coming this way. But Uncle Cecil and I walked around setting small fires that we let burn a few minutes, then extinguished. Then, when the fire arrived, its fuel was all gone, all burned out. And the fire died.

That’s how it is with griping and complaining, with grumbling and insisting on our rights. The way to douse that conflagration is by getting ahead of it and setting a backfire of thanksgiving.

If people are taught to give thanks in all things–they have to be taught that, it’s not natural for some among us–and if they are taught to look for reasons to be thankful, it sucks all the complaining air out of the room and the griping dies a natural death.

The Apostle Paul knew this.  In writing to the Colossian Church, he said–

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts to which indeed you were called in one body and be thankful. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

That’s Colossians 3:15,16,17.

Interesting how Paul teaches them (and us!) to make thanksgiving an element in all we do.

We are to flavor everything we do with the seasoning of thankfulness. That means–

–in our daily work

–in our family life

–in our church and community life

What a difference the right seasoning makes!

In January 2017 after Bertha and I married, on our way to Savannah for a honeymoon, we stopped by Atlanta to visit with some longtime friends. Jim and Darlene have been married a long time and I know a little of their history. At one point long ago, they had separated and talked about divorce. Then–the details are long gone from my memory–they got back together and have built a godly marriage that is the envy of everyone who knows them. Anyway…

Over breakfast in an Atlanta hotel, I recall Jim sharing with my bride and me the secret of their marriage. “Dar and I have discovered that it’s all about thankfulness,” he said.  “We compete with each other to see who can be more grateful.”

Do that, my friend, and you will have no time or room or reason for complaining.

Set a backfire. Stop that complaining business before it gets started.

Joe McKeever has been preaching the Gospel since 1961. He pastored for 42 years in various Southern Baptist Churches. He has also served as director of missions for the SBC churches of metro New Orleans. Joe has a BA from Birmingham-Southern College, and a masters & doctorate from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. For over 20 years, Joe has drawn a daily cartoon for the Baptist Press (www.bpnews.net/comics).  He writes columns for a variety of publications. He and his wife, Bertha, have published numerous books including, “Help! I’m a Deacon” (2015) and “Sixty and Better: Making the Most of Our Golden Years” (2017). As a blended family, Joe and Bertha share fourteen grandchildren. They live in Ridgeland, MS and enjoy telling friends they are “living happily ever after.” Joe’s life verse is Job 4:4, “Your words have stood men on their feet.” To discover more about Joe, visit his website. 

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