7-23-2015

        Good Morning All!!

           1 Chronicles 16:34; “Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!”

        We have talked before about hoe following God’s will makes our life more enjoyable and with a greater sense of contentment.  We find this true because we are living in accordance with the way God designed us and we all agree that using or doing things according to the creator’s design is the best.

    We see this as it applies to being thankful.  Being thankful not only gives to God the proper glory that we should but being a thankful person tends to enhance the quality of our life as well.  When you are thankful, you tend to be satisfied with your life and less materialistic.  Being thankful tends to have us aware of what we have, we tend to enjoy what we have and we tend to not need the next new and bigger thing.  We see the value of what we have more and are less likely to yearn for something else.

    Probably more importantly, people who are grateful for what they have are even more grateful for who they have.  We tend to see a deeper appreciation for those around us.  We tend to place a deeper connection with those around us.  We tend to see a greater value and be more thankful for those around us.  This enhances our ties to each other and to the greater community as a whole.

    Saying thank you to each other provides a more genteel association in which we exist.  Yet being thankful is far more than just saying thank you.  Being thankful recognizes that we are receiving gifts.  Being thankful recognizes that we are not entitled or owed what we receive.  This can be a fundamentally important understanding.  By recognizing the gift, we have to recognize that there is a giver; there is someone who has taken something that belongs to them and now gives it to us.  It might be something tangible like a book or a watch or it might be something intangible like time spent with another person.  Being thankful follows God’s will partly because it recognizes the interconnection and the intertwining of humans in their relationship with others.  We need each other, we rely on each other and this is represented by being thankful.

    We see this best when we see that God has freely given up his Son for our redemption.  This is a gift entirely undeserved and we should always be thankful to God for giving it to us.  This helps us to strengthen our relationship to God by remembering this gift and saying thank you often.

Father, we give you thanks for the many gifts that you have given us.  Keep us in your loving arms and keep us mindful that all good comes from you.  Help us to be thankful to you and to those whom you have blessed us with.  Help us to be the loving people that you desire.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret