This summer I was helping out a summer program with a series of outdoor trips.  On one of the trips, we went whitewater rafting in the morning and then whitewater kayaking in the afternoon.  Oh, and the river was a scorching 52 degrees.  One of the other leaders and I wanted to go down the major rapid at the end while holding a sign in hopes of getting our picture on the display board.

One of the hardest obstacles for some people to overcome when it comes to accepting the Bible as infallible truth is the pervasive presence of paradox. The inclusion of these seemingly contradictory statements often plays tricks on the logical mind, even though the truth behind them can always be substantiated by neighboring Scriptures or by concepts revealed in more distant parts of God’s Word.

Most of these paradoxical statements can be located in the four Gospels, where Jesus confounded the religious leaders of His time. For example, in Matthew 11:29-30, Jesus tells us that we can find rest in working for Him. In Matthew 19:30, He says that the “first will be last, and many who are last will be first” (NIV).

If you listen to people, being thankful is not a very common attitude. They complain about their classes, their jobs, their practice schedules, their parents (or kids), their friends, the weather, their teammates, and on and on it goes. In the world, it is easy to complain because everybody does it. Yet, as followers of Jesus, we are called to be thankful. That is no easy task when everyone around us is doing the opposite. It is just easier to fall in with them and do the same thing.