Thanksgiving
When you say the word thanksgiving many in
However, sometimes we as Christians follow the mentality of the world and forget to be thankful and instead we ingratitude for what we have been blessed with. Paul tells Timothy about this in,
2 Timothy 3:1 But
know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of
themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to
parents, unthankful, unholy, 3
unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of
good, 4 traitors, headstrong,
haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godliness but
denying its power. And from such people turn away!
Paul was warning Timothy
that there would be people who will follow after these sinful ways during his
day and during the future days and we can certainly see many people of the world and those who use to be Christians
having these same sinful Characteristics. Paul is describing people who are
selfish and are full of ingratitude. This describes the current condition of
our society pretty well because instead of being thankful for things people
takes things for granted and many times they think they deserve the things that
are done for them.
I can’t even begin to
tell you how many times this church has helped out people in their time in need
and not very many of them every expressed that they were thankful for what they
have received. I have even heard of cases where people complained about what
they got because it was name brand or because it was the wrong color. How many
times do you see kids these day say thank you for gifts or things that are done
for them? Not very many do this because they have not seen their parents or
those around them expressing thanksgiving for what they have received.
Jesus ran across people
like this during his time on the earth as well. For example look at,
Luke 17:12 Then as He
entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood
afar off. 13 And they lifted
up their voices and said, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" 14 So when He saw them, He said to
them, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And so it was that as
they went, they were cleansed. 15
And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud
voice glorified God, 16 and
fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a
Samaritan. 17 So Jesus
answered and said, "Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the
nine? 18 "Were there not
any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?" 19 And He said to him,
"Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well."
So,
out of these 10 lepers only one came back to express how thankful he was for
blessing he had received while the other 9 simply took this blessing for
granted. This is exactly what happens with many Christians today. We take for
granted what God has given us and we forget to thank Him for what he has done
for us. But, this should not be the case and Paul makes this clear for us in,
1 Thessalonians 5:17 pray
without ceasing, 18 in
everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for
you.
God didn’t have to create
us and he certainly doesn’t have to be part of our lives or send blessing our
way but it does these things for us because he loves us and that is why we
should always be thankful for all that we have in our life. With this in mind I
want to remind of some reasons why we should be thankful as Christians in
First of consider this.
We as a nation make up about 7 – 10% of the world population yet we are one the
richest nations in the world. Now we here about poverty in the United States
but our poverty as we define it does not even come close to poverty in other
countries because Millions around the world are literally starving to death and
most of them are young and helpless. They just have the cloths on their back if
they have any. We see this kind of poverty on the news or documentaries while
were sitting there eating more food on our plate than they will probably will
eat all week and yet many times we take our vast amount of food supply for
granted. I just wonder how many of us stumble if we had our material things
taken away and we had to live in true poverty?
Even under extreme
conditions Christians can still be thankful without complaining.
For example I read one
report where 1000’s of Christians go
about the Lords business joyful in
1 Timothy 6:6 Now
godliness with contentment is great gain.
7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is
certain we can carry nothing out. 8
And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.
We need to remember that
things that you and I take for granted in our rich nation others in the world
see these things as unthinkable luxuries that they will never have and so this
shows us just how thankful we should be.
Let me give you another
example. Back in the late 1970’s Christians in
A man by the name of Gene
Dulin who made several tours of
“We saw tears of joy as people grasped the first
New Testament they had ever owned. As we sat at dinner, one brother in
Now compare this with
the attitude that people have here in
Oh I wish every Christian
would have the same desire as the Christians did in
“I who am blind can give one hint to those who
see: Use your eyes as if tomorrow you would be stricken blind. And the same
method can be applied to the other senses.”
“Hear the music of voices, the song of a bird, the
mighty strains of an orchestra, as if you would be suddenly stricken deaf
tomorrow. Touch each object you want to touch as if tomorrow you tactile sense would
fail. Smell the perfume of flowers, taste with relish each morsel as if
tomorrow you could never smell or taste again.”
Oh how thankful we should
be with the many blessings that we have in our life. Instead of thinking about
the things that we don’t have we need stop and think about the things that we
do have and count our blessing ever single day. I reminded of the song that we
sing called
When Upon Life’s
Billow
When upon life's
billows you are tempest tossed,
When you are
discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many
blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise
you what the Lord hath done.
2.
Are you ever burdened
with a load of care?
Does the cross seem
heavy you are called to bear?
Count your many
blessings, ev'ry doubt will fly,
And you will be
singing as the days go by.
3.
So, amid the
conflict, whether great or small,
Do not be discouraged,
God is over all;
Count your many
blessings, angels will attend,
Help and comfort give
you to your journey's end.
REFRAIN
Count your blessings,
name them one by one;
Count your blessings,
see what God hath done;
Count your blessings,
name them one by one;
Count your many
blessings, see what God hath done.
As the words of this song indicate as Christians it very important that we count our blessing and realize how thankful we should be. We have so much more as Americans that does the majority of the world and we need to remind ourselves of this so that we don’t pity parties about how bad we have it.
Another thing we should be very thankful for is our freedom
of religion and the fact we have the privilege to come together and worship God
and learn about him without having to worry about being persecuted or killed
because this can does happen in other countries. We should also be thankful
that we have nice building to meet in and that most cities have a place where
the church can meet. Again, back in the 1970’s I want you see what one Africa
student said at a church in
“In
This African student could see how good we have it here in
The apostle Paul is a great example of someone who understood what it meant to be thankful. In fact Paul uses the words thanksgiving, 9 times thanks 24 times thank God or Christ 11 times and the word thankful 2 times. All and all he expresses his gratitude with these words 46 times.
With this in mind lets take a look a some of the things he was thankful for as Christian.
He was thankful for grace and salvation.
In the beginning Paul was trying to destroy Christianity and he was responsible for many Christians being locked up and even killed. But, even though he was the chief of sinners God gave him an opportunity to change his ways and become a Christian. Once he was convicted in heart he became a driving force which helped grow Christianity more than any other and everyday of his life he was thankful that he found grace and salvation in God. For instance notice how he expresses his thankfulness in,
1 Corinthians 1:3 Grace
to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 4 I thank my God always concerning
you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus,
I also want to point that
Paul gave up a great deal of wealth and fame to become a Christian. Jesus
himself speaking about Paul said this,
Acts 9:16
"For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name's
sake."
Paul certainly suffered a great deal as a Christian. In fact look at this review of what he went through in life,
2 Corinthians 11:23
Are they ministers of Christ? -- I speak as a fool -- I am more: in labors more
abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths
often. 24 From the Jews five
times I received forty stripes minus one.
25 Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned;
three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; 26 in journeys often, in perils of
waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the
Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the
sea, in perils among false brethren; 27
in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in
fastings often, in cold and nakedness --
28 besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my
deep concern for all the churches. 29
Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn with
indignation? 30 If I must
boast, I will boast in the things which concern my infirmity.
Paul
was put through the ringer and yes he struggled with Christianity sometimes but
overall he was always thankful for what he had at any given time because he
knew he had Christ in his life. You can certainly see him express this thought
in the book of Philippians. In chapter 3 he looks at things he had before
Christ and counts them as all rubbish because he knows the true treasure was
being found in Christ. Now I want us to read in chapter 4 starting in verse,
Philippians 4:4 Rejoice
in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!
5 Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at
hand. 6 Be anxious for
nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving,
let your requests be made known to God; 7
and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts
and minds through Christ Jesus. 8
Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble,
whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever
things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there
is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy -- meditate on
these things. 9 The things
which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God
of peace will be with you. 10
But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last your care for me has
flourished again; though you surely did care, but you lacked opportunity. 11 Not that I speak in regard to
need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: 12 I know how to be abased, and I
know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full
and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 13 I can do all things through
Christ who strengthens me.
This
is the attitude that every Christian should learn to develop because once your
faith and trust gets this strong in God then no matter happens to you in the
life you will learn to be content and be thankful for what you have.
Another
thing Paul was thankful for was his brethren and especially when he heard news
that they were being faithful to Lord. Let look a few passages where expresses
his thankfulness in this area.
Ephesians 1:15 For
this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love
toward all the saints, 16 I
do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers,
Philippians 1:3 I thank
my God in all my remembrance of you, 4
always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, 5 because of your partnership in
the gospel from the first day until now.
2 Thessalonians 1:3 We
ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your
faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another
is increasing. 4 Therefore we
ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and
faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring.
So as we can see
Paul was very thankful for his brethren and we should be to. We should rejoice
in the fact that we are like minded and are trying our best to grow closer to
God by obeying his commands. So lets never forget to be thankful for our
brethren.
Then final Paul was
thankful for everything and he has taught us as Christians to be thankful
forever thing as well. Notice what he says in,
Colossians 3:16 Let the
word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all
wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your
hearts to God. 17 And
whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God the Father through him.
From this lesson we have seen how important it that we have thanksgiving in our life. The crucial question becomes are you thankful for the blessing you have or do you find yourself being dissatisfied with what you have? Have you been taking your blessing for granted? If you have I hope that this lesson has reminded of just how rich you are in Jesus Christ and how you can draw upon this strength and start being thankful and content with what you have. The next time you find yourself complaining about food or material possession remind yourself of those millions of people in the other countries who love to have what you complaining about. I want end my lesson with words of David from,
Psalm 100:1 A Psalm
of Thanksgiving. Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands! 2 Serve the LORD with gladness;
Come before His presence with singing. 3
Know that the LORD, He is God; It is He who has made us,
and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His
pasture. 4 Enter into His
gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to
Him, and bless His name. 5
For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures
to all generations.