I considered this whole idea of thanksgiving being a national holiday at work recently as I was typing some business correspondence to one of our vendors in Japan. Sometimes, we talk about our country's national holidays and it is interesting to find out what countries around the world take time off to celebrate. As I considered telling her about how we as a nation set aside one day per year to give thanks to our God...I was instantly struck with emotion. It was both good and sad...the good part is that at one time we did this...our nations leaders set aside a day to nationally thank God. That's an awesome thought! The sad part, as I mentioned before, is how far we have move God away from this holiday in our present culture. A good question to ask many of our fellow countryman would be,not what you are thankful for this year, but who you are thankful to. Unfortunately, if there were no national day of thanks right now, I can't imagine anyone of our leadership on either side of the isle today even considering the idea. Can you?
So what does it mean to be thankful to God in the right ways as believers? In all circumstances? Are we as Christians doing a good job of being thankful and displaying an attitude of graditude? How would our lives look different if we never did anything for God, but get this thankful thing right? What would non-believers think if we were truely always thankful to God in all circumstances.
First, lets look at what I would call no brainer thankfulness. Yet, if we are honest with eachother, yes, even us Christians who should have the corner on thankfulness struggle with this. Let me illustrate with this bold yet accurate statement...never before in the course of human history have some many humans had it so good for so long living in this country. Our poverty level is indeed super richness for the majority of the world. Still need a jumpstart on why being a thankful Christian living in the USA should be a no brainer? consider this:
If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep you are richer than 75% of this world.
If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish, you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy .
And if you get this on your own computer, you are part of the 1% in the world who has that opportunity.
If you woke up this morning with more health than illness .. You are more blessed than the many who will not even survive this day .
If you have never experienced the fear in battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation .. You are ahead of 700 million people in the world.
If you can attend a church without the fear of harassment, arrest, torture or death you are envied by, and more blessed than, three billion people in the world.
If your parents are still alive and still married....you are very rare.
If you can hold your head up and smile, you are not the norm, you're unique to all those in doubt and despair.
If you can read this message, you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world who cannot read at all.
That's what I call "No brainer" thankfulness.
In addition, what about all the blessings God puts in your life on a daily basis? Have you ever considered all that God does for you in a given day? As I was preparing this, I heard a message from a pastor who gave out an excersise to try. He said, go through your day from the time you wake up, till the time you go to bed and recount all your activities,from waking, to eating, to interaction with others and then, imagine how it would be if all these things were not in your life. Then, put or give each one of these things back to yourself mentally and view them as a gift from God.
I did this excersise and in about 20 minutes time, I had a list of 23 things that for the most part are a part of my life each day. Really, If I had taken more time, I am sure I could have listed 23 or even 43 or even 63 more things as I got deeper into all that God does for me each day. Here are some highlights:
I woke up - God's gift of life
The heat was on in my house - God's gift of providing for me
I made breakfast for my sons - More of God's provision in both material stuff and opportunities to love
I went to work - God's provision again and the opportunity to be salt and light and love others
I gave some free stuff to a customer we had laying around - More provision, opportunity to love others and show kindness
I did a random act of kindness to my neighbors - provision, opportunity to show kindness
I had an opportunity to try and witness to neighbors but was scared - opportunity to pray and ask for wisdom and courage and grow in my faith
I received immediate encouragement from radio program on the drive home - God answers prayers
I had dinner - More of God's provision opportunities to be with my family love
I had time with each of my three sons - opportunites to love, teach and enjoy them.
I went to sleep - I was reminded of just how much God gives to me each day.
As I went through this excersise, I can tell you that just considering these things for the 15-20 minutes I did, completely changed my attitude. I took the focus off of any of my "issues or problems" and put it back on God and how good He is. In fact, this is what this Pastor said would happen. He said that thankfullness and depression, anger and self pity can't exist in your mind at the same time. He went on to say that, just because you are a thankful person does not mean that you will never experience negative emotions, but once you are in the midst of negative thinking, being thankful is a quick way to get back on track.
I liken it to falling into a hole without a ladder or rope to get back out. We should practice thankfulness and counting our blessings so that we will always have that ladder in our spiritual back pockets and know how to use it. It will remind us of what God has already done for us. If I had this down and were thankful all the time, can you imagine what my attitude would be like? Can you imagine how my life would look different to the outside world?
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Monday, November 24, 2008
Thanksgiving...our right response
Well, it's been quite some time since I posted last...I am thankful that I finally am up to sharing something...and why am I up to it you might ask?? I have been inspired by being thankful.
Being thankful is something I have been giving much thought to lately. Like most, it's because the Thanksgiving holiday is only a few days away but more importantly, it is one of the things scripture teaches us is definately in God's will for us as Christians.
If you are like me, I give much thought, probably too much thought to what God's specific will for my life is. Sometimes, it is difficult to discern especially for someone like myself who likes to have it all figured out ahead of time. I have not seen any bible verses that have God say go and work for ABC company down the street, or be sure to marry Sue Ellen and have three kids but one thing that is very specific in God's word is our instruction to always be thankful to God for everything. Remember the scripture in 1 Thessolonians 5:18 says,"give thanks in all circumstances for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." and Ephesians 5:20 tells us to"Always give thanks to God the Father for everything."
Now as I have been focusing on being thankful to God, I have been learning more about what the means and the importance of it. Over the next few days, I would like to share some of what I have been learning and give you all a chance to respond with your thoughts via this blog. Let me start with two good questions. What is it really to be thankful and when we are thankful, is it God that gets the credit?
One of the things that Paul teaches us at the beginning of the book of Romans is that a characteristic of an ungodly culture is unthankfullness to God. Romans 1:21 puts it like this, speaking of cultures that God has given over to their sinfulness, "They knew God, but did not give glory to God or thank Him." I don't know about you, but for me, for years I celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday as a day with turkey and a great meal...we learned about the pilgrims and indians, the cornicopia, Mayflower and cranberries always comes to mind, but certainly, God was not the focus of this holiday nor do I think it is for much of our culture today. It was not until Jesus Christ opened up my eyes to see and continues to do so today, that I can appreciate the greatness and the importance of giving thanks to God and the gift of this national day of thanks.
And why should it not be Jesus because if you recall from scripture, He was our great model of thankfulness. At the miracle of the loaves, He gave thanks to God. At the last supper, He thanked God as he broke the bread, at Lazarus tomb, He thanked God again...He showed us how He depended on God and how we all are dependent on God. His response was thankfulness which should also be our response. Being unthankful, therefore is living blind to the presence of God, or worse, because of pride, not giving God the credit that only He deserves.
I remember a few years ago, after I had just become a christian, that I had read the story of the original pilgrims and their journeys and travels to the new land. They were God centered people for sure...willing to risk it all for the cause of Christ. I remember one journal entry saying how folks wept as they gathered at the dock to leave England and how everything they planned and did was bathed in prayer. There was no doubt about it, they knew they were taking a huge risk and were going to have to depend on God for everything. Their journey was a tough one for sure that ended in calamity with only a few surving the first year in the new land. But the ones left, kept going, and as they did, God provided for them by bringing them some miraculous help in the form of an English speaking indian who taught them many things including the ability to grow food. ( Can you imagine the chances of finding a native in a country thousands of miles away that speaks your language and knows how to grow food? Coincidence...I think not) The result was a great harvest for their first growing season. This led their leader at that time, Willam Bradford, to declare a official holiday of thanksgiving which may have lasted for several days...hence the idea of a first thanksgiving came from.
Thanksgiving was celebrated in this country from our beginning in many states as it was a custom from England to have a harvest thanksgiving but it was not until 1863 that Abraham Lincoln brought this to national attention and suggested the last thursday of November be a national day of praise and thanks. Knowing a little about Abraham Lincoln, this does not surprise me because he was a man of faith and depended on God throughout his presidency. I remember reading accounts of him face down in prayer before God all throughout the civil war. In fact he contended that the Civil was was actually a judgement from God for the sin of slavery. I have no doubt that he understood the Pslam that says "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord" I also have no doubt that he understood the importance of giving thanks to God in light of the above verse. If you are any type of a history buff...go to the following link and read President Lincoln's original thanksgiving proclaimation...I may make you cry...http://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln/speeches/thanks.htm
I will continue this blog on tuesday with more on our country's attitude on thankfullness to God and what I would call "No brainer thankfullness"
God Bless,
Vince
Being thankful is something I have been giving much thought to lately. Like most, it's because the Thanksgiving holiday is only a few days away but more importantly, it is one of the things scripture teaches us is definately in God's will for us as Christians.
If you are like me, I give much thought, probably too much thought to what God's specific will for my life is. Sometimes, it is difficult to discern especially for someone like myself who likes to have it all figured out ahead of time. I have not seen any bible verses that have God say go and work for ABC company down the street, or be sure to marry Sue Ellen and have three kids but one thing that is very specific in God's word is our instruction to always be thankful to God for everything. Remember the scripture in 1 Thessolonians 5:18 says,"give thanks in all circumstances for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." and Ephesians 5:20 tells us to"Always give thanks to God the Father for everything."
Now as I have been focusing on being thankful to God, I have been learning more about what the means and the importance of it. Over the next few days, I would like to share some of what I have been learning and give you all a chance to respond with your thoughts via this blog. Let me start with two good questions. What is it really to be thankful and when we are thankful, is it God that gets the credit?
One of the things that Paul teaches us at the beginning of the book of Romans is that a characteristic of an ungodly culture is unthankfullness to God. Romans 1:21 puts it like this, speaking of cultures that God has given over to their sinfulness, "They knew God, but did not give glory to God or thank Him." I don't know about you, but for me, for years I celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday as a day with turkey and a great meal...we learned about the pilgrims and indians, the cornicopia, Mayflower and cranberries always comes to mind, but certainly, God was not the focus of this holiday nor do I think it is for much of our culture today. It was not until Jesus Christ opened up my eyes to see and continues to do so today, that I can appreciate the greatness and the importance of giving thanks to God and the gift of this national day of thanks.
And why should it not be Jesus because if you recall from scripture, He was our great model of thankfulness. At the miracle of the loaves, He gave thanks to God. At the last supper, He thanked God as he broke the bread, at Lazarus tomb, He thanked God again...He showed us how He depended on God and how we all are dependent on God. His response was thankfulness which should also be our response. Being unthankful, therefore is living blind to the presence of God, or worse, because of pride, not giving God the credit that only He deserves.
I remember a few years ago, after I had just become a christian, that I had read the story of the original pilgrims and their journeys and travels to the new land. They were God centered people for sure...willing to risk it all for the cause of Christ. I remember one journal entry saying how folks wept as they gathered at the dock to leave England and how everything they planned and did was bathed in prayer. There was no doubt about it, they knew they were taking a huge risk and were going to have to depend on God for everything. Their journey was a tough one for sure that ended in calamity with only a few surving the first year in the new land. But the ones left, kept going, and as they did, God provided for them by bringing them some miraculous help in the form of an English speaking indian who taught them many things including the ability to grow food. ( Can you imagine the chances of finding a native in a country thousands of miles away that speaks your language and knows how to grow food? Coincidence...I think not) The result was a great harvest for their first growing season. This led their leader at that time, Willam Bradford, to declare a official holiday of thanksgiving which may have lasted for several days...hence the idea of a first thanksgiving came from.
Thanksgiving was celebrated in this country from our beginning in many states as it was a custom from England to have a harvest thanksgiving but it was not until 1863 that Abraham Lincoln brought this to national attention and suggested the last thursday of November be a national day of praise and thanks. Knowing a little about Abraham Lincoln, this does not surprise me because he was a man of faith and depended on God throughout his presidency. I remember reading accounts of him face down in prayer before God all throughout the civil war. In fact he contended that the Civil was was actually a judgement from God for the sin of slavery. I have no doubt that he understood the Pslam that says "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord" I also have no doubt that he understood the importance of giving thanks to God in light of the above verse. If you are any type of a history buff...go to the following link and read President Lincoln's original thanksgiving proclaimation...I may make you cry...http://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln/speeches/thanks.htm
I will continue this blog on tuesday with more on our country's attitude on thankfullness to God and what I would call "No brainer thankfullness"
God Bless,
Vince
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