Thanks!

Thanksgiving is nearly upon us. Since I will be traveling to Australia in search of giant Black Marlin on Thanksgiving Day, I will not be with my family and friends on turkey day. This past Saturday my loving wife fixed me a grand Thanksgiving dinner consisting of turkey and dressing, mashed potatoes, creamed corn. Green beans, cranberry sauce, rolls, pumpkin pie and it was dee-licious.

Most of us equate Thanksgiving Day to turkey and football games, but early settlers began the Thanksgiving tradition in order to thank God almighty for all of His blessings. Although one would never know it by watching the news, we really have much for which to be thankful in this country. The United States has enjoyed blessings as no other nation, save Israel. We have the highest standard of living of any civilization in recorded history, not just the world. Most of us take it for granted, but those of us who have traveled to other countries including third world countries know all to well what a great country this is and can more easily appreciate the magnitude of God’s blessings upon us. (Many do as I have done and literally get down on their knees and kiss the ground when they arrive safely back on American soil.)

It is my hope that this week you will take some time to review all of God’s blessings. (There will be plenty of time later to get back to our woes, wants, and worries, but we should devote some serious thought to the blessings that we enjoy.) After careful consideration, we should take some time to count our many blessings and thank God for them, and as the song goes, “Name them one by one”. The Bible instructs us to rejoice and pray “without ceasing”, always giving thanks, as that is the will of Jesus Christ for us. This Thanksgiving holiday season is prime time to begin the process and make it a lifetime habit that we instill in our everyday lives whereby we can “pray without ceasing” offering thanks for what we already have and not just always be demanding more with our prayer lives.

I began counting my blessings by thanking God for having the grace and mercy to send His Son Jesus Christ to this world to die for my sins in order that I may be forgiven my significant trespasses against Him and be reunited with Him in paradise forever and ever. I then began thanking Him for all my other blessings and I now can begin to see why He states that we should pray without ceasing for I have so much for which to be thankful that it just might take forever to properly thank God for everything. How about you?

1 Thess 5:16
Rejoice always
pray without ceasing,
in everything give thanks; for this
is the will of God in Jesus Christ for
you.