People are stressed up not necessarily because of problems of life, but because of poor attitude; attitude of murmuring and complaining. And often times, they complain because of covetousness and greed. But the Bible says, "And having food and raiment let us be therewith content" (1 Tim 6:8).

At the root of thanksgiving is contentment. Contentment does not connote acceptance of the status quo, it is rather appreciation of the present in anticipation of the future that you see ahead.

There is a difference between acceptance and appreciation. To accept your situation means, "I know I will never leave this position, I can never get anything better than this in life." But appreciating it simply implies that you value the process of development and growth in your life. Appreciation is an expression of value. "I value where I am, I know it is not a mistake for me to be here, it is only a process of life and I thank God I am passing through it." That is appreciation and at the root of it is contentment.

One day, Jesus was surrounded by over 5,000 hungry men and all the food His disciples could find were five loaves of bread and two fishes. And one of them said, "What are these among so many?"(John 6:9). But Jesus said, "Lets have it here." He took the loaves and gave thanks. That is a sense of value. He had value for what was available at that time and it became more than enough to meet the need.

What somebody else disdained and said, "What can these do?" Another person picked it up with a sense of value and there was multiplication. You never can tell what you could become in life until you begin to appreciate where you are now. You never can tell what you could possess until you begin to appreciate the little that you have now.

Appreciation is born out of contentment; being happy with where you are, having a sense of value for what is available per time in view of what you believe is coming your way.

God gave the Israelites manna in the wilderness and rather than appreciate it they murmured, so He destroyed them (1 Cor 10:10). Murmuring is the process for stagnation but thanksgiving is the process for multiplication. The choice is yours!

Meditate On These: - Malachi 2:1-2, Psalm 92:1