In fact, if truth be told, we find in God’s word that giving “THANKS:” is an imperative! It is a direct command from the Great I AM. Throughout the Psalms, David continually wrote to praise the Lord and to give thanks. In Chapters 106 and 118, he begins each psalm with this admonition, “Praise the Lord! Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever.” Time and time again, David reminds us to give thanks…to let our hearts overflow with thanksgiving. In fact, in over 33 passages in the Bible, we are commanded to give thanks to our Father who is the giver of every good gift.
So in a few days from now, as you gather with friends and family members and recount God’s blessing during this past year, don’t look at the shrinking balance in your checking account and lament how poor you are…rather; remember if you have any spare change just lying around the house, you are already wealthier than 75% of the world’s population. In fact, yesterday, my wife and I counted the change we keep in a glass flower vase, near the back door...a place to dispose of any loose change I might have in my pockets or we find in my wife's billfold....SPARE CHANGE...SOUNDS LIKE A STRANGE WAY TO DESCRIBE MONEY? However, we found, after counting, there was $38.17 in the jar...more than a worker in Nigeria would make at their job in a MONTH....and this money was just sitting in a jar, oblivious to the world and its needs.
Yes, times may be hard for many of us here in America, but that does not relieve us of God’s command to obedience as we bestow our praise, honor, adoration and gratitude on Him who has given us all that we have.... and for many of us, MORE THAN WE NEED. However, we should not give thanks to God because it our duty or just to be obedient to his Word; but rather, we should give out of love and gratitude for the immeasurable blessings of God on this great nation.....and on us, individually! Times may be hard and they may become harder…but we, as followers of Christ, are called to a higher standard of thanksgiving…we are to praise him and give thanks in ALL things…the good and the bad…in the best of times and the worst of times.
Why not begin today, with your celebration of this Thanksgiving season, by doing the following….set aside some time to make a list of the things for which you can give thanks and after each one...take time to BLESS THE NAME OF JESUS….tell Him, personally, what and why you are thankful and how, even if that blessing were stripped away, you would still give thanks and bless his name…..for scripture tells us, “What shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, yet lose his own soul.”
This Thanksgiving do the one thing that will honor God and bring glory to His name….Tell others how thankful you are that you belong to Jesus. This simple act of telling others that you are a child of the King will elicit praise from your lips and will demonstrate a heart filled and over-flowing with thanksgiving. For it is in every act of worship that we demonstrate our love for our Heavenly Father....and through EVERY praise and work of obedience that we show a humble and thankful heart.
So go ahead and prepare for A BLESSED AND HAPPY THANKSGIVING and....May God bless you as never before!
WPQ
Poem for the Day:
In harmony with one voice we raise
Our grateful songs of thankful praise.
In song and dance we do proclaim
That we are blessed in Jesus’ name.
May all creation spend each day,
Praising Jesus in every way…
The valleys sing, the mountains shout...
To sing and worship all our days
With hearts filled with eternal praise.
WPQ 2011
