Give Thanks
The biggest challenge to Thanksgiving comes the day after, when the turkey’s gone and Christmas shopping begins. That’s when we stop appreciating what we have and begin focusing on what we want.
Instead of spending time online dreaming about all those new things we desire, we should be reflecting on all the wonderful things we already possess. Psalm 103 offers us God’s Catalogue of Blessings—a true Thanksgiving Catalogue.
We should praise God for: Forgiving our sins, healing our diseases, redeeming our lives, crowning us with love and compassion, and satisfying our desires with good things. Yet, most of our blessings are taken for granted. Consider this. If you woke up today healthy instead of sick, you’re more blessed than the six million people who will not survive this week. If you have never experienced battle, imprisonment, torture, or starvation, you’re ahead of 500 million people worldwide. If you can attend church without fear, you’re more blessed than three billion people in the world. If you have food, clothing, shelter, and a place to sleep, you’re richer than 75% of the world. If you have money in the bank, cash in your wallet, and spare change on the nightstand, you’re among the top 8% of the world’s wealthy.
God satisfies us with good things, but we’ll never be truly satisfied unless we recognize them when they come our way. The best way to start is by making a list of all the blessings you have. And after you’ve done that, then make a conscious effort to really see and appreciate them instead of just looking past them to the next item on your list of wants.
God’s gifts are meant for our pleasure, but our attitude determines our satisfaction. Half the world is unhappy because they can’t have what the other half has—and yet, those who have it are still unhappy even though they do have it.
An unhappy person isn’t someone who didn’t get what they wanted. They’re someone who did get what they wanted but found out it wasn’t as wonderful as they expected. The secret to happiness is learning to rejoice in what you have.
This is what I call the M&M’s paradox. I love M&M’s, and I always revel in that first glorious bite. But after that first taste I want more. I know I should be satisfied with that chocolate flavored goodness I’ve been craving, but the satisfaction doesn’t last. I’m always looking for that next bite.
Just like those M&M’s, God’s blessings are sweet and rich, but if we don’t take time to appreciate them, we’ll always be hungry for that next M&M. That’s why Thanksgiving is so important. It reminds us to stop and count our blessings and recognize their source.
So, let’s do that. Let’s thank God for all His blessings, because we are truly blessed.
This year let’s make our Thanksgiving truly about giving thanks.
