11-23-05
It is the season for giving thanks. We can be thankful for many things, but
for what kinds of things should we be thankful? We often look to the
areas of our lives in which we see ourselves as succeeding as the real
blessings. While you cannot say generally that its a bad thing to succeed,
I don't think it is where we should focus in looking for our highest
blessings. On the other hand, if we are not careful our thanksgiving will all
end up being, "thank God, I'm not in that situation". As in, I'm thankful I
don't have that disease or the other or I'm thankful I'm not being actively or
severely persecuted and so on.
Of course, we are warned by Jesus to be careful about giving thanks for
success, even success against evil. If it's blessings that we should give
thanks for then we seem to have it backwards when we are most thankful
for avoiding the very things which Jesus said make us blessed. Jesus
pronounced the poor, the hungry, the mourning, and those who are
reviled, persecuted, and lied about as blessed. He also strongly
encouraged (a stickler might say commanded) that when we find ourselves
so blessed that we rejoice and be glad. Thanksgiving seems closely
related to rejoicing and being glad.
Most of us don't experience enough of those particular blessings to focus
our thanksgiving there (and it should give us pause that we are likely
thankful for it in spite of the Lord's statements). If we belong to Christ,
though, we know for what we should give thanks. Rejoice, give thanks,
even leap for joy that your name is written in His book. If your name is not
there, you can be thankful that it can be added even now.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Dale