I have blogger friends world-wide, and for those not in the United States, today may have just been any ordinary day. But in the US, we recognized the national holiday of Thanksgiving.
While the origins of Thanksgiving are often questioned, the moral of the day is still held: a day to sit back and recognize what we as Americans have.
For Christians, it's a day to thank God for all we have. But why just today?
Why just today? Why is today a special day to thank God for all He has done? What about yesterday? What about tomorrow? How can we spend simply one day focusing on all God has done?
We have a God who is tireless in his love, and fearless in what it takes to save us. His love and faithfulness endure FOREVER!
And you know what? Some people, I imagine, who are Christians didn't even recognize God today. They tore into their turkey dinners without even uttering one word of thanks to God. And that is sad.
Our worship numbers last night showed it. People are busy, but it was too much for some people to give up an hour to say thank you to God, to acknowledge God for all He has done.
Isn't it funny- it seems to me that it's so easy to acknowledge God when we have hardships. When things are rough. It's so easy to shake a fist at God and say, "Really God?! Now?! What is this for? I need help!" ....
But then those times when things are good- when things are fine- when things are okay- we don't say anything. We fail to acknowledge God.
It's something I need to work on. I looked a lot at 1 Thessalonians 5:18 today... "...give thanks in all circumstances..."
Paul is not saying give thanks FOR all circumstances, but IN all circumstances. You don't have to delight IN suffering, but it is possible to delight DURING suffering. It might not be easy, and it might wear you out, but it is possible, and it is what we are called to do!
Sometimes life gets hard... bills, finances, work, illnesses, broken relationships, etc... But we can give thanks because we have a God who is good.
Why just give thanks today? Why not every day? Why not make the table prayer Grace a prayer for your life? Why not develop Thanksgiving not just as a holiday, but a way to LIVE life!?
God is awesome, God is powerful, God is loving. And best of all, He's OURS! And that's something to be thankful for every day!
My own list of thankfulness from today and the last few days...
-Christmas shopping with my mom. I picked out my gift and gifts for others. And had lunch with mom and enjoyed time with her.
-Thanksgiving Eve worship. I sang with the choir and played organ for the service. It was a beautiful service, with a message about replacing worry and anxiety with Thankfulness.
-Christmas cards. I got up early and prior to Thanksgiving dinner, I wrote my Christmas cards. Anxious to share my Christmas joy with others!
-I was swamped today with Thanksgiving texts and wall posts on Facebook. There are so many people in my life that I am beyond thankful for and blessed to have in my life, and it is such a blessing to hear that bounced back at me- it made my cry when I sat back and reflected and realized how many people count ME as a blessing in their life. For instance, I got this on Facebook, and many like it: "I can honestly say that I am thankful for your presence in my life this semester. Your optimism has been more of a blessing than you will know. Sitting next to you in Dr. U's class has been a joy and an encouragment! Thank you for sharing with us your learnings, wisdom and for your smile as you learn along with us."
-Thanksgiving lunch at noon today at Grandma's! We had... Turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, rolls, green bean casserole, Asian slaw, strawberry-pretzel salad, macaroni salad, stuffing, pumpkin pie, peach pie, and pecan pie. It was all sooooo good and I ate way too much!
-Then, we went to my other grandma's (the one who had a heart attack). My two aunts prepared all the food since grandma couldn't. I didn't eat near as much at her house, but it was nice seeing and laughing to the point of hysteria with them!
-It has been a good day. I have been thankful. I want to say that at the end of every day.
You are definitely one of the people who says that at the end of a lot of days already though!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, love the post. I hadn't known it was Thanksgiving yesterday until I opened the blogger dashboard & was met with a million posts about it, so I figured it was. But no, it's really not a thing here at all. Annoying how we can take your commercialised holidays like Halloween just so we can make money and have an excuse to have a party, but when there's a holiday purely about being thankful, we don't want anything to do with it. Yep, we're the British.
Amen! I am glad to know others see Thanksgiving as a daily occurrence and not a seasonal one! Thankful for your wisdom!
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