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Category Archives: Thanksgiving
Giving Thanks
Here’s an article I wrote for our blog on HopeForLife.org. It was also published on Heartlight.org. Just in case you missed it… :-)
In the movie Shenandoah, Charlie Anderson, Jimmy Stewart’s character, sits down to eat with his family and prays the following: “Lord, we cleared this land. We plowed it, sowed it, and harvest it. We cook the harvest. It wouldn’t be here and we wouldn’t be eating it if we hadn’t done it all ourselves. We worked dog-bone hard for every crumb and morsel, but we thank you Lord just the same for the food we’re about to eat, amen.”
Whether we admit it or not, that’s a fairly common attitude. In fact, it’s so common that God warned His people about this ungratefulness thousands of years ago. In the book of Deuteronomy, He told them: “Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth.” (Deuteronomy 8:17-18)
The fourth Thursday in November is Thanksgiving Day here in the United States. For most people, it’s a day of eating, watching sports and enjoying time off from work. Far too often, the idea of giving thanks gets lost along the way.
So what’s the point of giving thanks? I can think of several positive things that come out of our taking time to give thanks for what we have received:
- Giving thanks helps us to appreciate what we have. It’s all too easy to focus on what we don’t have rather than recognize what we’ve received. It’s healthy for us to take stock of what’s been given to us and then to give thanks for those things.
- Giving thanks helps us to be aware of those who have less. When we realize that what we have was given to us, we are better able to share with others. They are as deserving of God’s blessings as we are.
- Giving thanks gives us more security for the future. When I realize that blessings don’t depend purely on my strength, I can be more confident going forward. Just as God has blessed me now, He can bless me in the future.
- Giving thanks is the right thing to do. We teach our children to do it, yet sometimes forget to do it ourselves. God is pleased when we give thanks to Him.
If you don’t feel close to God at this time, maybe giving thanks to Him is a good way to begin fixing that relationship. Take some time to recognize the good things that He’s done. We have lots of time for complaining about the bad; let’s stop now and thank Him for the good. It will do us a world of good.
Lessons from lepers
(Thinking about Thanksgiving next week made me remember a sermon I did a few years ago. Here are some excerpts)
Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”
When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.
One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him — and he was a Samaritan.
Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”
(Luke 17:11-19)
Who do we learn about here? Jesus? No, not really. We do see His compassion, but the focus isn’t really on Him. We learn about the men Jesus healed. We learn our lessons from the lepers.
9 of them did exactly what Jesus told them to do.
9 of them did exactly what the Law told them to do.
9 of them didn’t do the right thing.
The Old Testament is full of teachings about how God was frustrated with the worship of His people. They came and did sacrifices, kept feast days, and did all the rituals they were asked to do, yet they did not give Him their hearts. They did not truly worship Him. They only “did all the right things.” Yet in doing those “right things,” they missed the main thing, God Himself.
Caution #1:
We can do “right things” and still be wrong.
Back to the lepers…
1 of them was a foreigner.
1 of them came back to thank Jesus.
1 of them threw himself at Jesus’ feet and praised God.
Notice that this is no “High Five and Hallelujah” response, no “Thanks good buddy!”. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet. In the Bible when people come to realize that they are in the presence of God, they throw themselves at His feet. This is reverence, this is holy fear. Jesus is not our buddy. He is our Lord.
10 lepers.
9 found healing. 1 found Jesus.
Caution #2:
Our world needs more than the right doctrine. Our world needs Jesus.
Please note that I said “more than” right doctrine. We need the right doctrine. But we can bring them in and teach them to stop smoking and drinking and cussing and dancing, we can teach them to come to church on Sundays, we can even get them to take a dunk under the water. But if we don’t get them to Jesus, we haven’t done them any good at all!
There’s something else here. This passage teaches us about something really important: Thankfulness.
What would it be like to be healed from a terrible illness? Like leprosy. How would we react? Would we throw ourselves at Jesus’ feet? What would it be like to be healed from a terminal illness, one that was going to take our very lives? Like AIDS. Like cancer.
Like sin.
How long has it been since you threw yourself at God’s feet?
Giving thanks
“When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. He led you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. He gave you manna to eat in the desert, something your fathers had never known, to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you. You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.” (Deuteronomy 8:10-18)
Being Thankful
Seems like a good time to be thankful, doesn’t it? Aside from the upcoming national holiday, my lovely bride celebrates her birthday today. I’ve got a job I love, a healthy family, and three dogs that think I hung the moon (they sometimes think I didn’t hang it correctly, but they still think I did it).
Yet, I’m admittedly not good at being thankful. I’m better at feeling entitled. Rather than feeling thankful for what I have, I’m more inclined to notice what I don’t have.
But I’ve learned that I need to be thankful. Not ought to be, nor should be… I need it. Here’s a few reasons why:
(1) Being thankful helps me fight off that sense of entitlement. When I stop and thank God for what I have, I remember that I didn’t earn any of this. Nor deserve it. If I worked to earn anything, I did that work with the strength that God gave me. And in a situation in which my work could earn me something.
(2) Being thankful helps me have more compassion for those who don’t have what I have. I can get a warped theology that says that others don’t have as much as I because God intended it that way, or because they haven’t earned it (even though I didn’t either!). But when I realize that what I have comes from God, I also realize that it was given to me for a purpose: to share with others.
(3) Being thankful helps me to not worry about the future. When I thank God for what I have, I am much more likely to trust in Him to provide what I need in the future.
It’s hard, but “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” If that verse sounds cheesy or out of place, remember that Paul was talking about contentment when he uttered those words. He was talking about knowing how to live in abundance and knowing how to live in want. He was talking about… thankfulness. So if you want to finally apply Philippians 4:13 in its meaning in context, use it this week. Be thankful, and let Christ help you be thankful.