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Weekly Devotions

The Thankfulness Gauge-November 26, 2018

What are you thankful for and how tankful are you? Maybe it is time to examine your "thankfulness gauge."

Monday Morning Devotion-November 26, 2018

 

The Thankfulness Gauge

 

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken let us be thankful and so wordship God acceptably with reverence and awe.    Hebrews 12:28

 

     The Thanksgiving holiday is done.  Maybe there is still some turkey left over for sandwiches and perhaps a wee bit of dressing and cranberry sauce.  But for the most part Thanksgiving 2018 is history.

            So, now we can move ahead and focus on other things, right?  "Not so fast my friend" as our television buddy Lee Corso would say.  Aren't we forgetting something by dashing ahead to other matters.  Maybe we are already consumed by the process of planning for Christmas.

            Gotta get that shopping list together.   Plan for all the social events, those inevitable Christmas parties and get-togethers.  Okay, hold on!

            Here's why we need to rethink Thanksgiving before we plunge into another holiday.  First, just the title of the holiday tells us the most important thing we need to remember before we close out thanksgiving and that is "don't close out thanksgiving."  Sure, it is a specific day on the calendar.  This year it fell on November 22nd.  That was the fourth Thursday.

            The part we need to carry forward with us is that thanksgiving part.  We need to continue to give thanks for the bounty of God's blessings in our life.  As Sarah Young says: "Thanksgiving is not just a holiday celebration once a year.  It is an attitude of the heart that produces joy.  It is also a biblical command.  You can't worship God with an ungrateful heart."          With that in mind now is the time to check our "thanksgiving gauge."  OK, so there may not be an actual gauge.  Not something you buy at a store or order on the internet.  But, it is a way of taking a realistic look at our lives. 

            If we are honest we probably will start the process of gauging our thankfulness by looking at what we have; the material things we possess. And yes, those are things we should give thanks for because without God's blessing in that area of our life we would not have these possessions.  This is not to say that our possessions are not something we shouldn't give thanks for.  They are.

            This "thanksgiving gauge" is not a way of prioritizing a "thankfulness order"  so we say that we are more thankful for this than we are for that.  This gauge is a way of keeping our minds focused on the importance of being thankful.

            In 1 Thessalonians 5:18 the Apostle Paul writes: "In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."  Paul is simply saying "very directly, no exceptions, no excuses, nothing is outside this parameter---in everything give thanks.  No matter the situation, we are to find a reason to thank God." (www.billygraham.org)

            You see gratitude is a normal thing.  When we stop to think about it---and I'm afraid we don't do that often enough—when someone gives us a gift it is a normal thing to thank them for it.  To just take it for granted that we deserved that gift and not thank them for it would be rude.  We would not intentionally do that.

            Yet, God's gifts to us are, well…expected aren't they?  In fact, we don't always even consider all of these as gifts.  They are just, uh, they are just there.  That's what God does isn't it?  He created this world we live in so it's His responsibility to keep it going isn't it?

            Well, I guess you could put it that way.  But, what if He decided that he was fed up with our thanklessness and didn't want to do this daily bread thing any more?  If He just said those folks are not grateful for what they have and where it comes from so I'm done.  I'm outta here.  Now that is one huge, scary thought isn't it?  He wouldn't do that would He?  I don't think He would, but He keeps on showing his daily love for his creation and for our lives even when we take it for granted.

            Sometimes it takes an unpleasant occurrence in our lives to make us thankful for what we had before or the way things were.  Then we realize there is a higher power in control and we are grateful for what we do have.

            Each morning when I start out on my prayer walk, during the very first steps I thank the Lord for the gift of another day.  Then I thank him for every breath he grants me.  I thank him for every step I take.  Then I close that beginning part of my walk by giving thanks for every beat of my heart adding special thanks for the two stents that keep the arteries that were closing last year open and my heart functioning in a normal manner.  Those are things that I don't take for granted and want to express my thankfulness for each day.

            On Billy Graham's internet offering we read: "The overarching umbrella that covers every issue of life is Romans 8:28 "We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.  A circumstance, in itself, may not be good, but God will take a bad thing and turn it to a good purpose.  If we believe that God is at work, controlling all of the contingencies of life, blending each component together to lead to a sovereignly-designed goal, then we can be thankful…as long as we look at the end result, we can be thankful even for a process that is less than joyful."

            As we say often in our church service at Good Samaritan.  "God is good.  All the time."

And that is something to be thankful for every day of the year, not just on a designated holiday.

 

Prayer:  Lord we are thankful for each and every blessing you send our way.  Help us to return these blessings in the way we live and conduct our lives in a spirit of Thanksgiving.  Amen!

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