A COMPREHENSIVE LOOK AT CHRISTIAN THANKSGIVING
Each November we are given the opportunity to direct our thoughts and actions towards an element of Christian living that is quite often ignored or, at least, under-appreciated...the power released from a thankful heart.
The fourth Thursday of every November is filled with food, fellowship, football and the occasional spoken words about what it means to be thankful. But just like every other major holiday, Thanksgiving, comes and goes and when it does it is very easy to fall back into the societal norms of living without the benefit of a heart conditioned to see life from a grateful point of view.
Periodically we do the self-talk about the need to be a more thankful person, but the challenge is that trying to be a thankful person without doing the things that are necessary to produce a thankful heart ends up creating confusion and disappointment in our approach to life.
That exactly why the Bible only one time says that we are to “be thankful” (Colossians 3:15 NKJV), whereas 29 times we are encouraged to “give thanks.” (Psalm 107:1 - “Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!”). It is the process of Christianity that changes our hearts and giving thanks is a major part of the process.
But we don’t stop at just giving thanks! The past few years you have undoubtedly seen how we have morphed the word Thanksgiving into Thanksliving. That is to say that we go one step beyond just giving thanks and we determine in our hearts that we want to constantly and intentionally work at living a life of thankfulness.
So what do we do, then, when life knocks on the door and we are confronted with situations that are hurtful and confusing and not conducive to our heart wanting to give thanks or allow us to live thankfully? Everyone has those times. The Lord knew and knows that to be true. So He doesn’t leave us without a remedy or a solution.
When we especially want to give thanks “in everything” yet our hearts are hurting, where do we find the motivation to do so?
There is a place in Christian maturity where we learn how to bring to the Lord the “sacrifice of thanksgiving.” In the Old Testament when Israel brought sacrifices to the Lord they brought an animal that was symbolic of the sacrifice being made...and the animal was sacrificed!
In every sacrifice something died.
The New Testament Church brings several forms of spiritual sacrifice to the Lord (sacrifice of praise, joy, broken heart, contrite spirit, our bodies as a living sacrifice) along with the sacrifice of thanksgiving. When we grow up in Jesus we learn how to give the Lord thanks in spite of what our feelings might be.
During this month of November, 2019, we want to walk beyond the desire to just be thankful, and train our hearts and minds to learn how to give thanks in everything, including the times and situations where everything in our hearts and minds says we just don’t want to! That is when we bring to the Lord the sacrifice of thanksgiving...and heaven smiles because that is what Jesus did for us. He brought the greatest example of sacrifice ever known to man, the cross of Calvary.
The shadow of that cross falls on us each and every day of our lives. It tends to make our problems seem much smaller and definitely easier to handle.
My hope for you is that this month will be a month of transformation and transition as we move to becoming a church family that enjoys the fruit of thanksliving! Triumph Centre is rising to the challenge!
We will give thanks “in everything”!
Much love and blessings.
Pastor
