Well, tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and most of us are going to gather around with family and friends and stuff ourselves with turkey and stuffing and mashed potatoes and gravy and beans and corn and cranberry sauce and all sorts of other great foods. We're going to talk and laugh and have a great time. We're going to watch football and yell and scream when the refs make a mistake or watch as the Detroit Lions yet again manage to lose. It's going to be great!
But we need to make sure that we stop and are thankful for what God has given to us. Even if we don't have everything that we WANT, most of us have everything that we need and more. In fact, if you are reading this, then you have access to a computer and, most likely, high speed internet. Some of you still have dial up, but even that isn't a need...it's a want or a desire. Now, it isn't a problem to have things; the problem comes in when we feel that we deserve those things and allow those things to rule our lives.
I think that it is really great that every year we have a national holiday for giving thanks, but I think that it is absolutely horrible that this one day is the only day many of us actually stop to give God thanks for all that He has done for us.
If we look at the origin of Thanksgiving here in the U.S., it was a day of celebration that God brought the early Pilgrims through the year and provided them with food. It was truly a festival or celebration of returning thanks to the Master Provider.
The Apostle Paul says, "Give thanks in everything, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." (1 Thess. 5:18) Notice he didn't say once a year or when you feel like it. We are told to be thankful for everything. In the New King James Version of the Bible, the phrase "give thanks" shows up 44 times. 26 of those times come in the Psalms. The Book of Psalms was really the Praise & Worship book in Biblical times. This shows us that part of our worship to God is giving thanks. So does that mean that we need to take a part of our time in church for a time of Thanks & Worship? Not a bad idea, but what I am impressed with is that we are supposed to be continually in worship of God, through giving praise to Him and giving thanks to Him. We cannot and must not separate these two items from worship.
Make sure that at this time of Thanksgiving, that you take time to be thankful to God. But more importantly, make sure that you take time to incorporate giving thanks into your daily time with God.
