This Week – # 12 (11/23/03)

Thanksgiving

It’s Thanksgiving Week and kids are out of school. Some folks have holidays from work coming, maybe two or three or more. There are no activities at Church and everything is going to slow down a bit toward the end of the week. Some guys will go hunting and lots of women (and men too) will go ‘shopping for Christmas’ on Friday and Saturday. There will be a big game or two on the tube, and some really industrious guys will accomplish some “honey do’s” around the house.

What if you spent some time with your family talking about thanksgiving? Not the holiday, Thanksgiving, but the practice of thanksgiving. Heaven knows we could use a little more.

Our devotional last week talked about this matter, but I though another word or two might be in order. I read the following from Psalms 116:17, I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD. How on Earth did the word sacrifice get tied up with thanksgiving? Well, it has to do with that business about the sacrifice of the lips. In other words, when I am offering a praise to the Father, a praise of thanksgiving, I am tuned in to His power and presence (the name of the Lord).

There is something sweet about this whole operation of thankfulness. I have so many gifts at home and around my office that are a part of the generosity of God’s people. I try to say thanks when they give it, and I attempt to follow up with a card or letter expressing my thanks. But I am always behind (as many of you can attest). I never get caught up with my thanksgiving and the increase in difficulty increases exponentially because of the continued generosity.

No one is more generous than God. Every good and perfect gift comes from God. Every blessing, every trial, every joy, every sorrow, every thing comes from God who is always giving to His children the best gifts. So, if it is ongoing on His part, don’t I realize how it has to be ongoing on my part? The beauty is, that in the giving of thanks for the graciousness of God, I am allowed to experience the power and majesty of His name (the essence of who He is). Now that is a wonderful exchange!

© Weaver 2003