Give Thanks?
by Cherie Hill
In an effort to attempt to illustrate the importance of sharing with those having less than we have, the pastor asked all the children to come in front and sit in the front pew on both sides of the church. Then, he began to hand out a few M&M’s to the children on one side and none to the children on the other side. After doing so, He stepped back and asked if they noticed anything wrong. One child, on the side with the candy, stood up and pointed to the child next to him and said “Yeah, you gave him three and only gave me two!”
Too often, we find ourselves focusing on what we “don’t” have instead of what we “do” have. We fail to focus on the ways that we can share what we have with others. Giving to others and sharing what God has given to us glorifies Him. It’s magnifying Him, instead of magnifying OUR needs… that makes Him smile.
Each day, we come before God… whether we are aware of it or not. Each breath that we take brings us into His presence. But when we are actively seeking Him through prayer, it is how we “enter His gates” that shows the extent of our faith.
We are told in Psalm 100:4-5 to “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise:” And in Psalm 95:2, “Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving…” However, we find it difficult to enter His courts with praise when a provider for our family is laid off from work, there has been a death in a family, a child is addicted to drugs, or someone we love is diagnosed with cancer. We find it hard to imitate the faith of Job, “The Lord gave me everything I had, and the Lord has taken it away. Praise be the name of the Lord!” (Job 1:21) Praise? Who can offer praise when your life is being shredded into a million pieces? How can we even think about giving “thanks?”
At other times, we are so elated and preoccupied with how we’ve been blessed that we forget to thank the One who gave the blessings to us. A person who survives a life threatening surgery may show deep gratitude to the physicians, but forget to say a prayer of thanks to God. Someone who receives a promotion may thank their employer, but forget to thank the One who gave them their abilities. Many times, we fail to thank God that through it all, the good and bad, He is there. We simply need to thank Him for His presence.
Notice in the Psalms, we are not told to bring thanks “sometime” during our prayer, but when entering into the presence of God; it sets the stage. It shows God our confidence in Him and most of all just shows our appreciation for the very life He’s given us. When we enter into His gates with thanksgiving, we are showing Him thanks for simply who He is and we’re placing Him above ALL things.
As we gather together for “Thanksgiving,” we ought to realize that there are many things to be thankful for… including our wonderful dysfunctional family that surrounds us. : ) But most of all, we should be thankful that God loves us, that He is ALWAYS with us, and that He designed a way to forgive us for all of our transgressions through the sacrificial death of His Son. Thanksgiving should not be just a once a year event for us, but a daily, moment to moment event; a way of life with each breath we take. God is worthy to be praised! And thanked!
