Thankful TO Is As Important as Thankful FOR

thankful
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For the last several days, I have heard people talk about the many things for which they are thankful but fail to mention the One who is the giver of those thank-worthy things.  Though lamentable, we might expect today’s secularist to leave God out of his celebration, but for the Christian to be thankful for things without thanking the Giver of those things comes dangerously close to idolatry.  We can easily begin to worship the created things rather than the One who created them and forget that we are desperately dependent on Him for everything in our lives.

Psalm 100 is one of the most often read Bible chapters this time of year.  David mentions the Lord in every line of the Psalm either directly by name or by pronoun referring to Him.  This serves as a stark reminder that giving thanks is useless unless one gives thanks to the sources of those blessings.

Thanksgiving should be an occasion to praise the Giver of the blessings rather than worship the gifts themselves.

It is good to give thanks, but rather than merely giving thanks for the blessings you’ve received make a bigger deal of the One from whom you’ve received them.  Worship HIM this thanksgiving rather than the things He has given you. Recognize God as the source of your blessings.

Psalm 100

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!
    Serve the Lord with gladness!
    Come into His presence with singing!

Know that the Lord, he is God!
It is He who made us, and we are His;
we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.

Enter His gates with thanksgiving,
and His courts with praise!
Give thanks to Him; bless His name!

For the Lord is good;
His steadfast love endures forever,
and His faithfulness to all generations.

I Am NOT Thankful for the Early Christmas

early Christmas
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Seems like “Christmas” starts earlier every year.

I have seen more pre-Thanksgiving Christmas decorations and sales displays this year than ever before.  I even have neighbors who already have decorations out.

Don’t get me wrong.  I am not a Scrooge.  I LOVE Christmas, but I also love Thanksgiving. This infringement on Thanksgiving concerns me.  It seems we are more interested in getting more stuff than being thankful for the stuff we already have.

How seriously does God take thankfulness?  Romans 1:18-32 provides a list of attitudes and actions that reveal hearts who’ve rejected God.  There in the middle of the list we find this description (emphasis added):

For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. – Romans 1:21-23

Sounds pretty serious to me.

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Three Ways to Give Thanks

Let me encourage you to hold your horses on Christmas for 4 more days and spend this week in Thanksgiving.  In fact, I challenge you to give thanks THREE WAYS this week.

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Make Your Waiting Times Productive Times

I witnessed a funny sight the other day as I made hospital rounds. When I arrived at the elevators, a woman stood there waiting ahead of me.  Since the up arrow light was on, I knew she had mashed the button at least once. While we waited for what must have been about 60 seconds, she mashed the button again four times – as if the more she mashed the button the faster the elevator would descend.  Finally, just as she mashed it the fourth time, the doors opened.  She probably still thinks the door opened when it did because she mashed the button for that fourth time.

waiting

We spend a lot of time waiting, doctors even have a room specifically for waiting. I guess that’s why they call us patients, because the we have to wait patiently for our appointment.  We wait in checkout lines, we wait at traffic lights, we wait for customer service, we wait for the preacher to get through (and wait, and wait, and wait).  We despise waiting, but since it is inevitable, why not learn to make waiting work for us.  After all, the Bible speaks highly of waiting.

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