Our reading plan has us in the beautiful book of Hosea. Such a rich and beautiful story there! And I do not want to skip over it. We will touch on Hosea next week, but for today, we will be in the spirit of the season. It’s Thanksgiving. No doubt your inbox has been bombarded with messages of gratitude and thankfulness. Mine, too. So much so that I almost decided to stick with the reading notes on the material we are assigned for this week.
But I feel compelled to focus on another topic. And while this may be lost of the white noise of this season, I hope it’s not. I hope its message will somehow break through the 40 other devotionals on thanksgiving and reach your heart
That’s how important I believe this topic is.
ThanksLIVING.
Not merely the giving of thanks but rather living a life that daily displays an attitude of thankfulness.
Why do I think it’s important and how can we do that?
The primary reason giving thanks is important is because God commands us to do it! I Thessalonians 5:18 is one of several places where we are told to always give thanks, in every situation. God makes it very clear that being thankful is what He requires of us and complaining is unacceptable. In our reading through the Old Testament especially, we have seen how seriously He deals with the complaining of the Israelites - fiery serpents, anyone? GULP!
So that’s why it’s important but before we get to the “how can we do that” part, let’s dig into why God commands us to have thankful hearts. Why complaining is serious and destructive.
Having a thankful heart - one that is like a heat seeking missile looking for things to give thanks about - is the foundation stone of JOY. Being thankful requires an attitude that sees God as good, as sovereign and the giver of good gifts. Thanksgiving is the outward expression of an inner conviction that God is trustworthy and loving and always at work on my behalf. Even when my circumstances tempt me to think otherwise. Thanksgiving is inextricably linked to faith. Do I believe that God is good? Do I trust Him to always provide the best for me? Do I stand on the promise of Psalm 84:11 - that He is a sun and a shield (both providing what I need for life AND protecting me from what will harm me) and that He does not withhold any good thing from those who walk uprightly?
Having an UNthankful heart - one that is critical or complaining or entitled - comes from a failure to see God as good. An inability to trust His goodness to provide whatever it is that I need in order to be joyful. This happens as a result of not only not seeing God as Who HE is but also failing to see ourselves as we really are. We have a tendency to see ourselves as deserving of good things and when reality doesn’t measure up to what we believe is our right, then we complain. Become critical. Bitter. Far from joy! In all actuality, what we really deserve is hell. But that’s not usually the conversation we speak to ourselves! Instead of giving thanks for all things, we tend to gripe that “all things” are not as we deem best.
Ok, so if we agree that giving thanks is important - and if we are honest enough to admit we could use some work in this area (and not just this week of turkey time!) what can we do about it?
Here are my suggestions:
Admit the truth. This is where we must begin. If thanksgiving is not so much a part of our behavior that we are thanksLIVING, then the first thing we must do is to admit the truth. And ask God for help.
Refuse to complain. Seriously. Just plain refuse to do it. Stop calling it constructive criticism or venting or whatever. Just stop complaining.
Instead, when tempted to complain, find something to give thanks for. THERE IS ALWAYS SOMETHING TO BE THANKFUL FOR!!! If you ask God to help you see it, He will.
Keep a gratitude journal. My husband began this habit a few years ago and it is life changing! He writes down three specific things he is thankful for EVERY DAY. Not only is writing them down a great exercise for your heart, it is also a faith builder to go back and look at what God has done for you over weeks and months!
Find ways to help others. Taking the attention off ourselves is a powerful way to live gratefully. (ever notice how, when we compare, it’s usually not to someone who has less than we do but rather to someone who has more!)
Rehearse the goodness of God. Over and over and over, we must remind ourselves of the great love of the Father towards us. His marvelous grace. His magnificent gifts. ALL UNDERSERVED!
Happy Thanksgiving, my friends. Let’s LIVE our thanks!