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Be Thankful
Be Thankful
“Please pass the pie.”
Thanksgiving is one of the original American holidays. It is culturally significant to us and has no religious roots other than the idea behind being thankful to God. 68% of surveyed households who celebrate Thanksgiving even take time out of their day to express what they are thankful for before diving into turkey and cranberry sauce. Despite it not having religious roots, I think it is something we Christians can happily enjoy and promote.
Giving back thanks to God for our many blessings is biblically sound. Even Jesus, Himself, gave thanks for His and His disciples’ meal in the upper room when he instituted the Lord’s Supper. Luke 22:19 says, “And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is My body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’” Jesus is our example, and we should be thankful for the gift of food God has provided. We see another exemplar, Paul, doing the same in Acts 27:35, “And when he had said these things, he took break, and giving thanks to God in the presence of all he broke it and began to eat.”
For what did these two men have to be thankful? Looking at Jesus, He was about to be betrayed by one of his closest friends and lead like a lamb to the slaughter. He knew exactly what was about to happen. The experience is one that many would be resentful of having to endure. Paul had just been shipwrecked, snake bitten, and was being carried as a prisoner to Rome to await trial and eventually execution.
What about us? For what do we have to be thankful? Let us face it, sometimes life kicks us when we are down. Our jobs can be rough. Bills are always piling up. Relationships sometimes sour. Family members are always coming up with new events and things to do which interfere with your plans. Even coming together for a holiday with family brings up stress with the coordination, who is bringing what, transportation to that place, and everyone has that aunt or uncle who might just ruin the whole thing for everyone.
It may seem like giving thanks is just another chore to do. That is what the devil tempts us to think about, though. In prayers, children are encouraged to be thankful for something in their daily prayers. Often, they mention something physical or somebody they know. My daughter often brings up someone who stuck in her mind from the prayer list read before services begin. True thankfulness though is not in those physical things, though. Sure, it is great to be thankful for our physical blessings, such as the food we are about to receive, and the clothes we have on our back, and the roof over our head, and even the luxuries of life. Sure, it is wonderful to be grateful for health and wealth in this life. Look at our two examples mentioned earlier, though. What was the focus of their thankfulness? Jesus was looking to the salvation of mankind. Paul was looking to the opportunity to preach the gospel. In giving thanks for their food, they expressed a thankfulness for the means to achieve their spiritual goals.
In C.S. Lewis’ Screwtape Letters, the demon Screwtape is encouraging his nephew, Wormwood, to focus his subject, a man living in Brittan in the 1940’s, on the physical things in life. To not let the girl he was infatuated with allow him to be turned to focus on spiritual things. This would keep him in a state of constant disappointment and despair as the things of this world would pass away. That was how the demon would win the battle for the soul of the man, and if they were lucky the girl, too!
Be thankful for the blessings of God in our life, and our salvation. Be thankful in the face of danger as Daniel did in Daniel 6:10. Be thankful in the moment of suffering as Jesus did in the upper room. Be thankful when life is kicking you when you’re down as Paul did. Be thankful in a moment of triumph as the creatures and the kings did in Revelation 11:17. “Thanks be to God for His inexpressible gift!” (II Corinthians 9:15) The gift of eternal life if we choose it!
A happy and safe Thanksgiving to you!
Lance Byers
11/23/2024
- Be_Thankful_11-23-24.pdf (53.94 kB)
