Verse of the Day for November 23

Paul had never been to Rome when he wrote this letter. He did not plant the church there and knew only some of its people. Yet the first thing he says after the greeting is First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all.

First. Before the long argument of the letter, before the corrections, before he asks them to help him reach Spain. Thanks goes ahead of everything else.

He thanks God that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. Other people's good news was enough to make him grateful. He was in the middle of his own hard work, travelling, arguing, collecting money for poor believers, and still he noticed what God was doing in a place he had not been.

Then he calls God as witness that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers. Gratitude and prayer for others had become part of his working routine, not a break from it.

In the middle of your work, it is easy to see only your own unfinished pile. Try Paul's order. Before you open the files, before the first meeting, thank God for one colleague or one church across town where good things are happening. Put that first.

Someone else's faith is a good reason for your gratitude today.

Put thanks at the top of the work, not at the end of it.