What are you thankful for? Have you spent any length of time thinking about it? Or have you taken for granted all who are in your life and all you have? Where do you believe all your blessings came from?
As we begin this week, many are preparing for the Thanksgiving holiday. Frozen turkeys are being thawed. Pumpkin pies are being made. Homemade egg noodles are being rolled and cut. A feast is being fussed over to make it just so.
For many of us, Thanksgiving means overeating and enjoying gathering as a family. We stuff ourselves with food, take a nap while watching football, and wakeup to eat again. The holiday is family, food, and football—even if not in that order. But how thankful are we?
We Americans trace this holiday back to the pilgrims and their thankfulness for their first harvest in the new world. We may even decorate our homes or foods with images of pilgrims and turkeys. Yet it is hard for us to comprehend just how thankful those pilgrims were to harvest a bounty of food that long ago fall to sustain them through the coming winter. After all, we can simply run to the nearest grocery store to get food when we want it and likely have days’ worth of food stored in our pantry.
The more we have, the less likely we are to be thankful. We become self-reliant. We begin to believe we do not need anyone else. We forget God has blessed us with everything, including our family, jobs, homes, and even the very air we breathe.
Much like Paul states in today’s passage, I encourage each one of us to give thanks to God for everything. Speak kindly to one another, giving thanks for one another. Sing and make your heart merry, praising God for His blessings. Be filled with the Holy Spirit, recognizing how blessed you are by God. And, of course, do all of this in the name of Jesus.
I pray we all thank God for everything. I pray we give thanks for God’s blessings. I pray each one of us will pause to thank God from our hearts and through Jesus Christ. Give thanks to God. Thank Him for everything. Think about your blessings. Praise God. Be Spirit filled.
Ephesians 5:18b-20 Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Marty Pressey 