I recently decorated my house for the harvest season, pulling out my glass pumpkins and placing them around the house. One day I was enjoying the décor and I read on one of the pumpkins, “Give Thanks.” I heard the whisper of the Holy Spirit say, “do that.” It was so simple yet so profound for me. We as believers can choose to give. We choose daily if we are going to give of ourselves for the betterment of others, which is love. To choose to give to God is very simple: “give thanks.”
The word “give” is defined: to yield to another, to commit to another as a trust or responsibility, and usually for an expressed reason, to execute and deliver.
Psalm 100:4-5 (NLT):
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving;
go into his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him and praise his name.
5 For the Lord is good.
His unfailing love continues forever,
and his faithfulness continues to each generation.
I recently lost my father-in-love and it was so hard. The greatest way to heal has been to be thankful to God. I consistently think of Dad and then I respond to my sadness with, “Thank you, God, for him; thank you I got the time I had with Him on earth.” “Thank you that he fulfilled his call.” “Thank you for Dad’s love in our lives.” Right away I’m able to take something that could have paralyzed me, and I have seen this in people’s lives as a Pastor, but by choosing to give thanks, it becomes worship to God for the gift our dad was to us on this earth.
We can live in this day and age not holding back, not sitting idle but living with all that God has for us; this starts with giving thanks. This seems to be a lost art in the world we live in now. When someone actually remembers to thank someone else it means a lot, because it’s a way of giving a piece of you to them. It shows the other person you love and appreciate whatever it was they did or do.
Ask yourself this question, ‘Do I give God enough thanks throughout my day for all the little blessings He gives, or am I more apt to complain’?
Yikes! That’s a hard one to admit but no shame, just change. We are all in this and we can choose to give thanks. One way we can do this is to examine ourselves and look into our lives and then we can change and become a people who make thankfulness a part of our daily lives.
“Give thanks” means: hold out the hand; physically, to throw a stone, an arrow at or away; especially to revere or worship with extended hands.
When we give God thanks it’s worship to Him. Wow! It’s casting, a throwing it at His feet. He then inhabits the praises of His people. If you need the presence of God and a move of God in your life, maybe start with giving Him thanks; it’s a worship to Him for all He has done. Go a little farther and thank Him for what He is going to do. You may be wondering why would I do that? Because you are in faith for what is ahead and God is already getting the praise for it.
1 Chronicles 16:34 (NLT) - Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! His faithful love endures forever.
Let’s all choose to GIVE THANKS in our every day to God; this is a gift you can give Him.
Happy Thanksgiving Rock Church! Pastor Dan and I are so thankful for you and your families. We love you. Enjoy Jesus this Thanksgiving, enjoy each other, laugh together, eat too much food, sing praises to God, and love bigger than yourself.
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