GIVE THANKS

In everything give thanks;

for this is God's will for you

in Christ Jesus.

I Thessalonians 5:18

At times, my first reaction, depending where I am in life, is to ask, “Paul, you must be kidding....EVERYTHING?” Well no matter what translation I've looked into to see what this verse looks like, it still relays the same thing. This verse doesn't say to be thankful FOR everything. That's easy to do, that is, when we are in a thankful mood. Thanksgiving should be a vital part of our praise to/for God and our praise should be more than often. FOR and IN are two different words as we use them in our language. In fact, being thankful IN all things is really more involved than just our thank you list. IN everything includes our FOR list.

Thanksgiving coming up is often relegated to sharing the biggest meal of the year with friends or family and settle down to watch a ballgame on television or to take a nap to sleep off over-stuffed bodies. Thanksgiving comes and goes if we are honest, but shouldn't we conscientiously make efforts to make the day more. If nothing else, each of us should make some effort in expressing thanks to God for His goodness in our lives.

Abraham Lincoln had the right idea in declaring a yearly Thanksgiving day for our country. Perhaps folks back in the mid-1800's held an extra level of thanks than we do now. Our country was torn up because of a Civil War where Americans were fighting against and even killing other Americans. The entire country had been in turmoil, insecurity abounded, the country was deep in debt as were it's citizens, and families and friends were losing everything. By the way, there is a Civil War going on in our day. Some would disagree with me, but our present war has nothing to do with race or slavery. Our war today is more good vs. evil than ever before in our history. In it all, we are called on by Scripture to be thankful IN all the negativity we find ourselves in at the present time. He already has a plan as to hope it all will work eventually for His glory.

Putting aside all the conflict, arguing, mob activity, political jousting going on, we on an everyday basis have so much for which to be grateful. Let me mention a few such things:

T – Truth of God's Word and all it entails

H – Holy Spirit of God that indwells each Christian. He guides, comforts and teaches us.

A – Abode...we all live someplace with roofs over our heads God has provided.

N – Needs... God has promised to provide in our daily need, not necessarily our geed.

K – Kinfolks, family and friends who will always be a part of our lives

S – Sky and all of God's wonderful nature for us to dwell in and appreciate

G – God, our Heavenly Father, our all in all

I – Innocent...Christ's blood covers us and we bear His righteousness

V – Victory in Christ available to us over damage Satan would desire to do to us.

I – I AM....God's very name for Himself that only He can fully understand.

N – Nation...we live in the greatest country on the earth...we are Americans.

G – Generosity of God's goodness in our lives despite our being so undeserving of it all.

I can't even exhaust all of God's goodness in my life. I could use those same letters and write names of people who have great meaning in my life. Such a list can be a reminder of things for which to be grateful in these days. I pray we won't let Thanksgiving Day itself pass without our taking time to simply be thankful.

Dear Father...thank You seems to be so little using just two little words in expressing our gratitude for all You mean in our lives. You are so good to us despite the times we let You down and disappoint You. Thank You for Jesus, for Your Holy Spirit and for Your love that passes all understanding. In Your Son's precious name...Amen