WHAT IS THANKSGIVING? What is Thanksgiving? How do you celebrate or commemorate it? What does it really mean to you? What are you thankful for? And to whom are you “thankful”? These are questions that I hope everyone takes more than just a passing glance at because in reality, the answer to these questions say a whole lot about you. If Thanksgiving is just “this day on the calendar” when you eat a big meal, travel or gather with friends, family and loved ones, watch some parades and football and get ready to go shopping, then you have no clue as to what “Thanksgiving” is all about. If Thanksgiving is just the one day a year that you and your family actually gather around a dinner table (as opposed to eating out, eating on the run or in front of the television) and is the one time everyone actually bows there head as you or someone else pray before eating, then you have no clue as to what “Thanksgiving” is all about. If Thanksgiving only conjures to mind memories of Turkeys, Hams, Pumpkin Pies and meals long past then you have no clue as to what “Thanksgiving” is all about. If Thanksgiving is just the one time a year that you express your appreciation and thankfulness for the people in your life or the possessions you have, then you have no clue as to what Thanksgiving is. Thanksgiving is much more than a date on a calendar. Thanksgiving is much more than “just one of the holidays”. Thanksgiving is much more than friends, family, food and merriment. Theres certainly nothing wrong with friends, family, food and merriment. But if that’s all thanksgiving is to you, then you have missed the entire point. Thanksgiving is not a “thing”. It’s not a “date”. It’s not a “holiday”. It’s not a “meal”. It’s not a “time”. It’s not a “gathering”. It’s not an “event”. And it’s certainly not a “hollow prayer” offered just as a “thing we do because it’s Thanksgiving”. Thanksgiving is and should be kept as an ever-present state of mind and being. It’s not something we “do”. It’s something we are, something we live….not just one day a year but everyday 24/7. It’s a continuous relationship between us and the God of all creation. It’s a way of living in concert with the Heavenly Father that says we are aware of our blessings, no matter how great or how small, and being continuously thankful for those blessings and being fully, constantly aware that they were afforded to us by his hand and living life in such a way that says that we thank him for those blessings. How can you be “thankful” only one day out of the year for the things that mean the most to you, for those people and things you love and hold dear, for those people and things in your life that sustain your daily being and for those things which are unseen but most certainly the most important to you such as the next breath, the next “Hello”, the next sunrise and the next blessing? How can those things merit only our thanks one time a year or “whenever we remember” to be thankful? If our thankfulness extends to only those times, then indeed those blessings aren’t as important or as dear to us as we suppose them to be. And to whom do you direct your thanks if not to the Heavenly Father? And if he is worthy of your praise and thanks on that one day or “every now and again”, then why is he not worthy of them everyday through something much bigger and better than token prayers…..that something being the way we walk and live before him and before our friends, family, co-workers and the world at large. If we are thankful for that which we have, then we must be thankful to the giver of those things, the Lord himself. And if we are truly, truly, un-deniably thankful to the Lord for all he’s done, then a token prayer said before a meal once a year says nothing to our loved ones, the world, or to the Lord himself to indicate the depth of our Thanksgiving. But a life of service to him says to all of them, especially to him, that we are thankful and that we appreciate his blessings, his mercy, his son Jesus who he gave to die for our sins and that we love him deeply, truly and sincerely. The words of an old song say it best: “I will serve Thee because I love Thee You have given life to me I was nothing before You found me You have given life to me Heartaches, broken pieces Ruined lives are why You died on Calvary Your touch was what I longed for You have given life to me” The best way to express Thanksgiving is to love the Lord. And the best way to show our love for the Lord is to serve the Lord. Therefore, may our lives be lived everyday with Thanksgiving to the Lord in such a manner that through our daily walk of service to him, all those around us, those we know and those we don’t, will undoubtedly know that we are thankful for our blessings and that we are thankful to the Lord God Almighty. Thanksgiving is not a what we have…..it is what we are… CONTINUOUSLY! Have a blessed day this Thanksgiving Holiday. May God continue you shower each of us with his blessings and may be we each enter into his presence each day with thanksgiving!
Posted on: Thu, 28 Nov 2013 10:49:05 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015