There is more to being thankful.

With all the proclamations of thanksgiving this week, I wanted to come at this from a different angle. Like most people, I have thought a lot about for what I am truly grateful. I came up with the big things quickly, my salvation provided by Christ Jesus, my wonderful, protective husband, my beautiful, healthy children, my parents who taught me about Christ and have always shown me unconditional love, our farm, our animals, on and on. Then, I thought about the things that make my life more pleasant, or just a little easier. I thought about the green grass in the spring, which means not having to pay for or feed our livestock daily. The fresh eggs our chickens lay every day. And as I am enjoying it right now, the crackling fireplace which provides heat economically for our home. 

So, what does it mean to be truly grateful? Webster's Dictionary defines grateful as follows: a : appreciative of benefits received, b : expressing gratitude. If we are genuinely thankful for the blessings in our life, how do we express it? As parents we try to teach our children how to be appropriately appreciative for things they are given. "Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name." Psalm 100:4. When we are truly thankful, there is an expression of that thankfulness, otherwise our great Thanksgiving proclamations are only lip service. "But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection, and let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful." Colossians 3:14-15. 

There is a level of indebtedness involved with being truly grateful. When we walk the path that brings us to an intimate relationship with Christ we become more keenly aware that He is source of all that is good in our lives. We all know it but by communing with Him, his benevolence becomes much clearer. "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning." James 1:17. This means all the little things on my grateful list, along with the things which come from friends, family, and even acquaintances are initiated with Christ. Then there are those times when we are completely unaware of His provision. Those are the multitude of unknown blessings we won't know about this side of Heaven. 

We must be compelled to make sure that we at least attempt to show proper recognition and appreciation to the God of all creation for our 'every good and perfect gift.' We never will be able to appropriately show our gratitude but we should spend our lives trying. Much like the point made in an earlier blog, if we love Christ there will be evidence of that in our lives. If we are truly thankful this Thanksgiving there are actions which testify to that fact. Words are easy. The message, growing closer to Christ, takes work and sacrifice on our part part. We are bought with a price and there are expectations placed upon us. Join me this week in taking inventory of our blessings, but even more importantly take inventory of how we show our gratitude.