 Dear
Members and Friends of Trinity,There is no
doubt in my mind that the major "happening" of November (that is after our
Sauerkraut Supper and the opening of hunting season) is Thanksgiving. I must say that
Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. I love the turkey, stuffing, potatoes,
pumpkin pie, football games, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and I dare not forget
being with family and friends. Of course, we as Christians are aware that Thanksgiving for
us should be more than just the above. We know that our first responsibility on that day
is to "give thanks to the Lord for He is good and His mercy endures forever." As
a matter of fact, I am sure that we are aware that we should give thanksgiving to God not
just on Thanksgiving, but each and everyday of our lives.
Giving thanksgiving to God! Yes, we do know that we are
supposed to give thanksgiving to God. However, do we? I must confess that at times I fail
miserably in giving the thanks the Lord deserves. You may too. Many Christians admit that
thanksgiving is more often than not way down at the bottom of their list when they pray to
God. But why is this the case? Well, I believe that there are many reasons. However, two
of these reasons seem to stand out the most. I would like to share them with you now.
One reason as to why we may not give thanksgiving to God
is that we may have become so "busy" with our personal lives that we simply do
not recognize God's goodness and mercy. We are so caught up going here and there, doing
this and that, you name it, that we are not even aware of God in our lives and what He has
been doing for us. Thus, we will not be inclined to give Him thanks for we are unaware of
Him, His gifts, and His work.
Another reason for our failure to give thanks to God might
be that we simply do not believe that God has been all that good and merciful to us. When
the children do poorly in school or get in trouble, when, the spouse leaves, when the
employer severely criticizes or even fires you, when a test shows cancer, when a loved one
dies-when everything that can go wrong does go wrong-we are certainly more inclined to
say, "Why me Lord?" or "Don't you love me?" or "Why have You
abandoned me?" Let's face it, when things go wrong we tend to question and doubt
God's goodness and mercy. And if we do not think God has been good or merciful to us, we
certainly are not going to want to give Him thanksgiving.
Friends, we need to stop every so often and focus on God
and what He does. Believe it or not, His goodness and mercy does endure forever. Just look
at His goodness: the warmth of the sun; the refreshment of a cool breeze, the beauty and
color of changing leaves; the peace of a purring cat; the joy from a smiling baby. To tell
you the truth, we could go on and on. What about food, clothing, shelter, good government,
your brothers and sisters in Christ, your family. Why His goodness surrounds us day in and
day out. There is not a moment in our lives when we are not surrounded with His goodness.
As we remember this, we will want to give God thanksgiving.
This is even true when it comes to the troubled times. We
are never alone. God is always with us. His promises to us are real. He will give us a way
out of temptation. He will not give us more than we can handle. Above all, He will work
all out for our good. Just look at your past life. I am sure that if you look hard enough
you will see God's hand working for your encouragement and good. Once again, as we
remember this, we will want to give God thanksgiving.
However, what we really need to do is to look at His
mercy. His mercy is clearly seen in the gift of His Son Jesus Christ. Without Jesus we
would have been lost in our sins. We would have been condemned to Hell. However, God
placed on His only Son Jesus all of our sins and then sacrificed Him on the cross. By
doing so He paid the punishment of our sins thereby defeating sin, death, and the Devil
once and for all. Because of God's mercy, and only because of His mercy, are we the
children of God who will inherit eternal life. Once again, as we remember this, we ill
want to give God thanksgiving.
What a God! What a God! Truly He is good and His mercy
endures forever. Please take time this Thanksgiving to recall His goodness and mercy.
Please take time each and everyday to recall His goodness and mercy. If you do, you cannot
help but give Him the thanksgiving that He truly deserves.
|
