Right now, with the colors and decorations in the stores we
cannot help but start getting ready for the holidays. And with the
Crafts Faire and the expectation of that great Thanksgiving turkey,
the great, wonderful, happy bustle of the holidays stretched out
before us.
Right now, with the colors and decorations in the stores we cannot help but start getting ready for the holidays. And with the Crafts Faire and the expectation of that great Thanksgiving turkey, the great, wonderful, happy bustle of the holidays stretched out before us. Frankly, Thanksgiving, for me, is at the very heart of it all … the spice it takes to really celebrate Advent. After all, think about it:
Have you ever stopped to notice how good thankfulness makes you feel?
It is true that I do still choose, from time to time, to do things my way and more importantly (to me anyway) in my timing. And regardless of my justifications for doing so, the result is always the same and totally predictable. I get frustrated with the way the blessings I so often seek take so long in getting here. I suppose none of you out there are ever tempted, as I am, to try hurry things up a bit. And, when I do, and as much as I try to convince myself that I am only taking what is due me, I am never really happy with the result.
And then along comes fall, the season of harvest, to remind me how God wants us to see life. Harvests are the firmest reminder that we are not in charge of the blessings that really matter. Harvests, at their core, are the very heart and soul of thankfulness.
When I do the things God has given me to do, and I trust God’s timing for those things my heart desires, I have peace and joy within me, and I am thankful for the joy such a choice has given me. Since doing things God’s way always leads to thankfulness, it stands to reason that thankfulness is really God’s intention for humankind – the true nature for which we were made. Why?
You see, being thankful is automatically – and unavoidably – an acknowledgment that there is someone to be thankful to. There is a source – outside ourselves – to whom our thankfulness is directed … and to whom it is due. After all, I can’t really be thankful to myself; that’s schizophrenic. And I can’t be thankful to a mere accident of fate. That’s just “lucky”.
In thankfulness, we acknowledge a relationship to that someone who is able – and desires – to act, on our behalf. It also means that we recognize this someone’s right to act in our lives for our benefit. Thankfulness is the deepest sign of our relationship with God.
When God acts on our behalf, our thankfulness leads us to become just a little more confident that He will do so again. This is what we call faith. And it is faith in God that saves us, makes us new, and makes us inheritors of all God has promised. When I live a thankful faith I am just a little more likely to do things for others, because I have the confidence that there is always enough for me.
If others were to catch on to this small but very basic building block of faith, imagine what this world could be. All from just a little bit of thankfulness!
