It is the day after Thanksgiving. For many yesterday was a day to think about all that God has done for you. You may have spent time with parents or friends that you are extremely grateful to for the things they have done for you. If you live in America, you probably ate too much and spent the afternoon reminiscing. At the end of the day, you hugged necks and went back to your home to wake up today and go back to your former attitude. An attitude that will focus on the things that you feel are negative things in your life.
Our lives as Christians should not be focused on the negative things that come our way. Many things we count as negative are simply God’s way of protecting us from something else that could be harmful to us physically or spiritually. For instance, more than once I have been going somewhere, and suddenly things slowed down greatly. I grumbled, complained, and was very impatient. I remember one time while traveling in North Carolina coming to a dead stop. I am a very impatient person. My method of operation is to make a plan and work the plan. This abrupt stop was impeding my progress and the more I thought about it the more I complained. I looked for a way to get off the highway rather than stop and thank God for where I was and who He is, my all-powerful, all-knowing, loving God. Whatever the situation was He was in control, and it was in my best interest. After sitting for several minutes, I found out there was a terrible wreck ahead and someone was killed. Guilt came over me as I reflected on my attitude. I should have been thinking about whatever was ahead and praying for the reason I was stopped. Whether it was a wreck or road work God was still in control. I began to pray for the ones headed to the hospital and the loved ones of the deceased. I thanked God that he had slowed me down and I was not involved in the accident. I repented of allowing the circumstances I could not control to change my gratitude and trust in an all-mighty God. I was reminded of the verse in I Thessalonians 5:18 where we are taught “In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” Did you get that? In everything give thanks.
Today, give thanks for the grumpy sales associate who would rather be home with her family or shopping black Friday rather than dealing with rude customers. We do not know the circumstances this person is going through, show mercy and extend grace. It could be that they do not know our Savior and therefore they do not have the Holy Spirit to guide them and comfort them. God created each of us and we are all precious in His sight. He loves them and we should also.
Give thanks for those that God has placed in your life to help you along this pathway that is sometimes confusing and frustrating. Give thanks to those that God has allowed you to have an influence over, those who are growing in their faith and are now encouraging you. In Ephesians1:15-16 Paul thanks God for those in the church at Ephesus. He has heard of their continuance to follow Christ and he says, “Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers.”
Give thanks for the freedom we have in Christ. We are free from the power of sin. It no longer has a rule over our lives. In I Corinthians 15:57 Paul is thankful for the victory we can have in Christ “But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” In verse 58 He goes on to encourage and challenge us to this knowledge of victory through Christ should affect our lives. “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” This thinking on a higher plane than the average Christian reminds us that all the challenges and trials are worth the expectations of our future and the worthiness of our Lord. It is not in vain.
Give thanks for His broken body and His shed blood so that we can have eternal life with Him forever! In I Corinthians 11:24-26, we are to remember what He has done on our behalf. We are to take the cup and the bread to bring us back to thoughts of our redemption. He did for us what we could never do for ourselves.
I Corinthians 11:24-26 “And when he had given thanks, he brakes it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.”
Today, the day after all the talk of thanksgiving, stop and allow the words you told others to sink deep in your hearts and thank God continually. A heart that is truly thankful will not flip-flop back and forth from grumbling to thankfulness. A heart of thanksgiving will rule. When we begin to grumble the heart of thanksgiving will convict our soul. This should cause us to repent, remember, and allow the peace of God to rule our hearts and be thankful.
Colossians 3:15 “And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.”
