I love this time of year…it’s cooling off slightly and you can anticipate the change in the air. Fall is a gorgeous season that is climaxed with harvest time: a reward for our efforts and an indication of God’s faithfulness. I think my favorite American holiday is Thanksgiving. It is unfortunate that Madison Avenue has decided its greatest attribute is to be the start of the Christmas shopping season, which actually seems to begin these days in mid October…but that’s okay. Thanksgiving cannot be contained in only one day…if it is, you’ve missed the point. Thanksgiving is not a day or a season…it’s an attitude…a lifestyle. Psalm 95 says we are to "come before the Lord with thanksgiving." Why? Not because of the bountiful harvest, but because “the Lord is a great God!” Psalm 100 says we are to “shout for joy” as we “enter his gates with thanksgiving.” Again, why? Because “the Lord is good and his love endures forever!” We are to be thankful, not because of what we’ve accomplished or what God has given us…we are to be thankful because God is good…because he loves us…who we are or what we have has absolutely nothing to do with it. Last night the men’s group did an exercise where they wrote down all the reasons each person had to praise God for. I missed most of the meeting because of a meeting, but if we would all work a little harder recognizing our reasons for praise, there would be a lot less grumbling and discontent in our world.
3 comments:
Amen brother!! We are so busy asking God for things we so often forget to praise Him. To me there is a big difference in praise and thanksgiving. Praise is all about God, nothing to do with what He has done for us, just about Him. Thanks for reminding us to make it "all about Him".
Doesn't take long. Thankful. Consider a fall..laid up for months, a blood clot passes you're history, an accident that's it. A heart attack or stroke means change or gone. Thankful our fragile self is here. You won't grumble exiting a hospital or nursing home either. You become very thankful.
I was a part of that mens group that night and in the short few minutes that we spent(about 15 I think)it was not to hard to fill 1 page with things to praise GOD for.If you were to take the time out of your day and think it thru, you should be able to fill a note book with things to praise GOD for.
And I praise him for this oppurtunity to speak.
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