Where Is The Thankfulness In Thanksgiving?
How many times do you go into the week of Thanksgiving with a heavy and rushed heart? You are worried about the meal being prepared to perfection. You are continually counting the amount of people coming to your house or you are thinking about the people who will not be with you this Thanksgiving. Perhaps it has just been a hard year and there doesn't seem to be much you are thankful for. All these circumstances place a heaviness over the holiday whether we want them to or not.
In 1 Timothy, Paul is giving instructions to the elders of the church about false teachers. He is reminding them that there are individuals who are placing too much emphasis on things that do not matter to God the way they do to humans. The false teachers were placing strict rules on the people by saying they could not marry or eat certain foods. The people were being taught that if they chose a life of celibacy instead of marrying, they would live a holy life and that if they ate certain foods that were sacrificed to idols or did not observe the Jewish food laws they would be going against God. Both things were created by God for His people’s pleasure. The elder’s strict rules were thought to make the people self-disciplined and righteous, but they forgot that their actions could not remove their sin, only Jesus can remove our sins and make us righteous. The people were giving thanks to God but with a heavy heart because of the circumstances. They were allowing the strict rules to inhibit their thanksgiving. One commentator says, “Paul argues that believers who give thanks to God are free to eat any kind of food since they acknowledge God as the creator and provider of every good thing.”
Where are the rules hindering your thankfulness this Thanksgiving? Does your idea of what Thanksgiving should look like seem unachievable to the point there is no thankfulness? 1 Timothy 4:4-5 says, “For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.”
As you prepare for this Thanksgiving, are there things that do not seem natural to be on your thankful list? There are definitely things on my list that are not typically on there, but as I read through my list and ask myself where God is working in each of these things I can see they are being consecrated by the word of God and prayer. Thankfulness does not always come from us getting our way, it comes from God being in control of each and every circumstance. I have learned the hard way that just because something does not happen according to my plan does not mean it did not come out perfectly. Like the elders, I put too much emphasis on objects and circumstances that in the big scheme of things only matter to my human mind. They do not bring me closer to God, in fact they place a barrier between us, and they do not show His love to others.
This Thanksgiving may we go into it with a light spirit, a spirit that is looking at all of God’s creation as good. In the first chapter of Genesis, God looks at His creation and says it is good. Even though He knew what was to come with Adam, Eve, and Satan, He still was thankful and said it was good. Let us look at everything with a thankful heart this Thanksgiving, knowing our Creator is in complete control and rules over every person and situation. If you are having trouble finding something to be thankful for, remember all the good God has created for you. He had you in mind when He made the sun to shine, the leaves to turn colors, and the breath He put in our lungs. Life may not always go as planned, but there is always thankfulness in His creation.
“I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving.” Psalms 69:30
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Philippians 4:6
“All this is for benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.” 2 Corinthians 4:15
Digging Deeper:
What is robbing your thankfulness?
How is God drawing you to trust that He has everything under control?
What are you most thankful for this Thanksgiving?