Thankful...on purpose
As I write these words, the national US holiday of "Thanksgiving" is a week away. Many of us will gather around tables filled with food and surrounded by family members whom we've not seen in a while. We will enjoy the bounty of the day and reflect on God's goodness to us throughout the past year. At least that's the picture on most of the cards I see about Thanksgiving.
The reality may not be as picturesque as that. There may be some quarreling. There may be some strained relationships. Possibly this has been a difficult year and the provision has not been as lavish as some in the past. For some, they will struggle to think of things to be thankful for.
I'd like to suggest a few verses of Scripture for you to read and a thought to hang onto. The thought is this. Sometimes we have to choose thankfulness. Sometimes we have to decide that we will focus on who we are in Christ and the relationship we have with our Father in Heaven which will result in our gratitude throughout all of eternity when we are in Heaven with Him. Sometimes we have to be thankful...on purpose. King David had a whole group of people in the Old Testament whose job it was to praise the Lord.
From 1 Chronicles 16, I find that David appointed Asaph and his brothers to regularly offer thanksgiving to the Lord by singing. They were to "invoke, to thank and to praise the Lord, the God of Israel." I wonder if they ever had a week (or a month or a year) in which they personally struggled but still chose to fulfill their "assignment" of offering thanksgiving to the Lord.
I would suggest that their thanks was given not FOR anything, but TO the Lord for who He was. It certainly included thanksgiving for what He had done for the nation of Israel, but it was primarily thanksgiving for God's inherent greatness. Read the following example from 1 Ch 16:23–34:
Sing to the LORD, all the earth! Tell of his salvation from day to day.
Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!
For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and he is to be feared above all gods.
For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the LORD made the heavens.
Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and joy are in his place.
Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength!
Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; bring an offering and come before him!
Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness; tremble before him, all the earth;
yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved.
Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice, and let them say among the nations, “The
LORD reigns!” Let the sea roar, and all that fills it; let the field exult, and everything in it!
Then shall the trees of the forest sing for joy before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth.
Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!
I'm going to try and keep a little better focus on that this year. I don't want my Thanksgiving celebration just to be about all the good things that God has done for me (though it is important to be thankful for that too). I want it to be about the greatness of God whether or not I have anything tangible to show for it. I want to be sure I am being thankful TO God, not just FOR the benefits I perceive myself to have received from Him.
Who's with me?
I'd like to suggest a few verses of Scripture for you to read and a thought to hang onto. The thought is this. Sometimes we have to choose thankfulness. Sometimes we have to decide that we will focus on who we are in Christ and the relationship we have with our Father in Heaven which will result in our gratitude throughout all of eternity when we are in Heaven with Him. Sometimes we have to be thankful...on purpose. King David had a whole group of people in the Old Testament whose job it was to praise the Lord.
From 1 Chronicles 16, I find that David appointed Asaph and his brothers to regularly offer thanksgiving to the Lord by singing. They were to "invoke, to thank and to praise the Lord, the God of Israel." I wonder if they ever had a week (or a month or a year) in which they personally struggled but still chose to fulfill their "assignment" of offering thanksgiving to the Lord.
I would suggest that their thanks was given not FOR anything, but TO the Lord for who He was. It certainly included thanksgiving for what He had done for the nation of Israel, but it was primarily thanksgiving for God's inherent greatness. Read the following example from 1 Ch 16:23–34:
Sing to the LORD, all the earth! Tell of his salvation from day to day.
Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!
For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and he is to be feared above all gods.
For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the LORD made the heavens.
Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and joy are in his place.
Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength!
Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; bring an offering and come before him!
Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness; tremble before him, all the earth;
yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved.
Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice, and let them say among the nations, “The
LORD reigns!” Let the sea roar, and all that fills it; let the field exult, and everything in it!
Then shall the trees of the forest sing for joy before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth.
Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!
I'm going to try and keep a little better focus on that this year. I don't want my Thanksgiving celebration just to be about all the good things that God has done for me (though it is important to be thankful for that too). I want it to be about the greatness of God whether or not I have anything tangible to show for it. I want to be sure I am being thankful TO God, not just FOR the benefits I perceive myself to have received from Him.
Who's with me?
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