Another Thanksgiving
22/11/09 21:35
Thanksgiving
is only four days away and I am gearing up to sit
before that feast of delectable delights. I picture
myself now sitting before this plate of harvest,
thankful for what God has afforded and blessed me
with. I have never had a problem thanking God for
where I am and for what I have –because it is
only through Him that I have received anything. I
truly believe that if God wouldn’t have had
mercy on me when He did –I would be in big
trouble right now! So, I have no problem with
thankfulness!
If trophies were given out for being thankful I am sure that I would have one. Okay, maybe I wouldn’t get a trophy for humility but… I am thankful that there are not any trophies for humility! Hey, I am thankful that I am thankful. I can’t imagine going through this life, as hard as it is, and not enjoying some of it, and isn’t that one of the benefits of thankfulness?
Thankfulness brings enjoyment to life. Being thankful lightens the heart and causes worry to flee. It speaks that God cares for you and it allows you to see opportunity in the midst of adversity. Thankfulness sets out the welcome mat of the heart and opens the door for the King. It sets our worship in the right perspective and makes all the roads of our life lead to Zion.
I have a new beatitude; blessed are the thankful, because they are thankful. I know, it’s a circular argument but it is true, the thankful are blessed, and they are blessed because, they are thankful!
Now, I am not just talking about thanking God here and there or, for this blessing or that. I hear people all the time thank God for things while living their lives in the mully-grubs. They are sad people. People who feel that the world still owes them. Things are okay with them, but “they could always be better.” They are usually looking to receive and it seems that they are always blind to the opportunities to give.
Hey, there’s a novel idea; being thankful for the opportunity to give. We are all thankful to receive, but can we be just as thankful to give. I am thankful for what God has blessed me with. Can I be just as thankful for what He has blessed my neighbor with?
That is the heart of the truly thankful. I remember a story about the time Matthew Henry was robbed. He went home that night thanking God that his life was spared, that he had money to give and… that it happened to him and not another. True thankfulness sets the heart free and breaks the bonds of selfishness.
True thankfulness looks beyond the horizons of “me” and blazes trails into the hearts of others. The reason God doesn’t bless some folks more often is because they’re so stinking stingy! When God blesses His children and then watches those same children bless others… I’m telling you that He will be quick to bless again.
Try this little exercise; the next time God blesses you and after you thank Him for that blessing; thank God for blessing someone else. And if you cannot think of someone being recently blessed –change that, and go out and bless someone for yourself. Then you will really experience thanksgiving for the other guy.
I think this is what Paul was alluding to when he exhorted us to prefer one another over ourselves. I can be happy for me, but it’s far better to be happy for someone else.
If trophies were given out for being thankful I am sure that I would have one. Okay, maybe I wouldn’t get a trophy for humility but… I am thankful that there are not any trophies for humility! Hey, I am thankful that I am thankful. I can’t imagine going through this life, as hard as it is, and not enjoying some of it, and isn’t that one of the benefits of thankfulness?
Thankfulness brings enjoyment to life. Being thankful lightens the heart and causes worry to flee. It speaks that God cares for you and it allows you to see opportunity in the midst of adversity. Thankfulness sets out the welcome mat of the heart and opens the door for the King. It sets our worship in the right perspective and makes all the roads of our life lead to Zion.
I have a new beatitude; blessed are the thankful, because they are thankful. I know, it’s a circular argument but it is true, the thankful are blessed, and they are blessed because, they are thankful!
Now, I am not just talking about thanking God here and there or, for this blessing or that. I hear people all the time thank God for things while living their lives in the mully-grubs. They are sad people. People who feel that the world still owes them. Things are okay with them, but “they could always be better.” They are usually looking to receive and it seems that they are always blind to the opportunities to give.
Hey, there’s a novel idea; being thankful for the opportunity to give. We are all thankful to receive, but can we be just as thankful to give. I am thankful for what God has blessed me with. Can I be just as thankful for what He has blessed my neighbor with?
That is the heart of the truly thankful. I remember a story about the time Matthew Henry was robbed. He went home that night thanking God that his life was spared, that he had money to give and… that it happened to him and not another. True thankfulness sets the heart free and breaks the bonds of selfishness.
True thankfulness looks beyond the horizons of “me” and blazes trails into the hearts of others. The reason God doesn’t bless some folks more often is because they’re so stinking stingy! When God blesses His children and then watches those same children bless others… I’m telling you that He will be quick to bless again.
Try this little exercise; the next time God blesses you and after you thank Him for that blessing; thank God for blessing someone else. And if you cannot think of someone being recently blessed –change that, and go out and bless someone for yourself. Then you will really experience thanksgiving for the other guy.
I think this is what Paul was alluding to when he exhorted us to prefer one another over ourselves. I can be happy for me, but it’s far better to be happy for someone else.
|