Give Thanks

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Greetings & blessings in Jesus’ Name,

“In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18 KJV

There have been many situations in my life I didn’t feel motivated to give thanks for, especially when I was younger and felt like I was getting the raw end of the deal (which a lot of time I was”, but I have learned that thankfulness – like apologizing and excusing oneself – is an attitude of the heart, rising from respect, honor, and gratefulness and esteem.  A common expression I hear quite often that illustrates this is, “It could have been worse”; then there is the example we often hear that goes like this, “I complained about having no shoes until I saw someone with no feet.”  I have decided it all boils down to attitude and perception.

Is the glass half empty or half full?  Is it partly cloudy or partly sunny?  Is it fifty percent chance of rain or fifty percent chance of no rain?  When are you blessed more, when it is thirty degrees outside and you only have one coat or when it is eighty degrees outside and you have three coats?  Or, once again, are blessed more when a loaf of bread is five dollars and you only have five dollars, or when a loaf of bread is ten cents and you are penniless?

One’s perception of the things of life will guide them in the direction they choose to follow.  Too often though it is a path of unthankfulness, pessimism, and cynicism.

We are at the time of year that has been set aside for “Thanksgiving” but if we are grateful of heart, “all the time” is the time for thanksgiving.  I like what is written in Psalms 92:1-4,

It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O Most High: To show forth thy loving kindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night, upon an instrument of ten strings and upon the psaltery; upon the harp with a solemn sound.  For thou, Lord, hast made me glad through thy works: I will triumph in the works of thy hands.”

King David said in Psalms 26:7,

That I may make known with th voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works.”

One of the best witnesses of the presence of God in a person’s life is the expression of a thankful heart.  To declare with joy the attributes of God and to prove His promises with faith and obedience.

Solomon said, “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.”  I say that harvest season in the time for Thanksgiving.  What do we harvest?  The rising and the setting of the sun.  The rain that falls and the flowers bloom.  The air we breathe and the food we eat.  The doctors who care and the medical attention that is available.  For good leaders honest neighbors, and close friends.  For family who watches, if not close up, then from a short distance away.  For opportunities, provisions of life, and for life itself.  Tor the stars, the moon, song birds, and even fish.  For animals, trees, wasps and bees.  The list goes on and on.  Anything that your senses receive is a harvest of something that God has created and it is a time for thanksgiving.  I know a man who was in WWII.  He was shot in the face, and consequently lost one eye, his sense of smell and taste.  I wept for him and thanked God for preserving mine.  The man lived fifty years in that condition.  So, even though we should be thankful for the good things, we should be thankful for things on the obverse side of the coin.  Things like pain, struggle, work, ugly and even the worst enemy of life: death.

May God encourage our hearts and give us joy and the desire to always be thankful.  Amen.

Your friend in Christ,

Rodney

Originally published in the One Small Seed newsletter issue #140 distributed in November 2010.