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Be Thankful


A group of elementary school students were asked to write down the seven wonders of the world. They took blank pieces of paper and started writing. The answers listed the pyramids, the Taj Mahal and other wonders. One little girl was not finished after everyone else did and continued writing. She said, "teacher, I don't know where to stop and if these are the right answers, but I have a lot more than seven." The teacher looked at her paper and started reading her list, "to be able to see, hear, think , breathe, touch, walk, run, love, laugh..and the list went on. We take many vital things for granted.

Only one of the ten lepers healed by Jesus came back to thank Him (Luke 17). The others probably got excited and ran back to their families they had been missing for a long time since lepers were isolated from the community. When the receiver overlooks the giver and gets preoccupied with the gift, thanksgiving is often forgotten. On Christmas morning, many children get so excited that they would just rip open the wrappers with out taking time to notice the name of the giver written on the tag. We tend to concentrate on the gift more than the giver. The one who returned to thank Jesus was a foreigner who knew that the gift he received could never have been earned by himself nor could have been given by anyone else but God. We may forget the fact that life is given as a gift and not as a choice. We tend to forget the gift of God when we count the things that we do not have. Gratitude magnifies our experience of the good things in life, enabling us to enjoy them more  thoroughly.

In the United States, the first President George Washington proclaimed and invited the nation to dedicate a day of thanksgiving on October 3, 1789 even though it was not made a public holiday until October of 1863 when President Abraham Lincoln declared the last Thursday of November "as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise." The proclamation starts with the sentence, "The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God." Later on December 26, 1941, Congress passed a law making Thanksgiving the fourth Thursday of November.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt celebrating Thanksgiving with polio patients in Warm Springs, GA 1938
President Franklin D. Roosevelt celebrating  Thanksgiving with polio patients in Warm Springs, GA 1938

Sometimes we can become so focused on one particular disappointment that we don’t see the many blessings we receive every day. By being grateful for God’s blessings even in the face of a disappointment, we are able to invite peace and joy into our lives and open our hearts to the many more blessings God has in store for us. We will be thankful for what we have when we remember those who are not as fortunate as we are physically, mentally or financially. Be thankful for the family members, friends and even strangers who made it possible for you to be who you are and where you are today. Notice the people who are happy for your happiness, and sad for your sadness and be thankful. Remember those who are fighting for preserving the freedom and liberty we enjoy and be thankful.

God gave us eternal life through His Son Jesus Christ that one can never ever earn by works (Eph 2:8). No matter how hard we tried, how sincere we were, how much we gave, it would have never been enough to overcome the debt of sin. Thanksgiving opens up our hearts to know God more truly and personally. It grows our love towards others and God and gives us the desire to be with God. The nine lepers who did not return to Jesus to thank him were not necessarily ungrateful people. They were most likely thankful for the healing they received, but just forgot about the giver. What they missed was the intimate encounter with the Lord and the chance to know him personally.

One of the most popular Thanksgiving hymns, “Now Thank We All Our God” was written in the 1600s during the 'thirty years' war in Europe. It expresses profoundly the deepest feelings of gratitude in the midst of hopelessness and destruction. Martin Rinkart and his congregation suffered as their little village in Germany was invaded. Several hundred people died and almost everything of value was destroyed. Rinkart was broken hearted and depressed. He spent time in prayer for days when he penned the lyrics, "Now thank we all our God...who from our mothers' arms has blessed us on our way with countless gifts of love, and still is ours today. " Thanksgiving and gratitude help us to endure the hard things in life with dignity. “Give thanks in everything, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). In every circumstance, no matter what happens or where we are, we can thank God. Not everything that happens to us is good, but God uses everything that happens to work for our good.

Blessings

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Fulll sermon audio: Mathew Philip 
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