“WHY SHOULD WE GIVE GOD THANKS”
‘O’ give thanks unto God of heaven: for his mercy endureth forever.
(Psalm 136:26)
Over four centuries, or four hundred and three years ago, a little band of men and women joined their hands and hearts in America’s first Thanksgiving. With Indian guest they gathered around a table for the New World’s first Thanksgiving dinner. Measured by our standards they did not have much. The harvest was in and they were grateful to God. But their needs were great and there were no super-markets down the street. Cold, hunger, and sickness threatened their very lives.
How far in some ways have we come since that first day of thanks in 1621? Today more than two hundred million people populate our land. We produce more food, more fuel, and more finished products than any nation in the world. Measured by dollars and cents our gross national product exceeds one trillion dollars and is climbing every year. Science and industry do our bidding. We can even send man to the moon.
But like the Pilgrims, we have great needs. The richest nation in the world is perplexed and troubled by crucial shortages. Millions are Homeless; fortyfive million people go to bed hungry every night. We have higher wages and more dollars, but unemployment lines are long and the dollar buys less and less all the time. Moreover, we as a nation are over 4.0 trillion dollars in debt.
A greater concern is that our nation appears to stand at a crossroad of its history. The winds of moral and spiritual pollution threaten our future. But, in situations like ours real thankfulness to God is the first step toward our illnesses being cured. For God is the panacea for all of our problems.
Yes, we should give thanks to God and I would like to explain why! We should give God thanks because we owe it to Him.
You see, God is worthy of our thanks because He is our Maker. All that we are and have is from God’s unchanging hand. The strength we have the things that maintain our lives, the blood and breath within our bodies, the very time we have here and in eternity to come are a gift of our Creator. He is our Provider and Sustainer. Every necessity of life comes form His hand.
Do you give thanks before eating? Jesus did. Again and again we read that the Lord lifted his eyes toward heaven and offered thanks before beginning the simplest meal. We should be thankful everyday, not just every now and then. We should be thankful for our clothing, our homes as well as our privileges and freedoms in life. For everything we have or hope to become is direct gift from God because He loves us.
Yes we owe thankfulness to God, but there is another reason why we should give thank to God.
“All The Circumstances of Life are in Gods Hands,” 1st Thessalonians 5:18, commands in everything give thanks. This means in every circumstance and in every situation. Only the child of God can really do this. And if you belong to Christ this is your privilege. God will make all things work together for good. Everything and every situation are under His control. Times of tears will come, but as we trust and thank Him in “all things”, he will fill our lives to overflowing.
We need to be thankful in all things and recognize the hand of God is in our sorrow as well as joy.
The Psalmist knew God was in control when he wrote: “Weeping May Endure for a Night but Joy Cometh in the Morning.”
Our Ancestors knew too that’s why they sang, “I’m So Glad Trouble Doesn’t Last Always.” In contrast we should be careful about our unthankfulness. To become unthankful is to become near-sighted, even blind. The unthankful person no longer sees God’s goodness. In time, he may forget that he needs God or that God even exists. An unthankful nation is no better. An unthankful nation is an unthinking nation and its people are in mortal danger. America’s deepest problems come from blindness to the goodness and power of God. There are the products of unthankfulness. In all their poverty the Pilgrims were rich because they saw God clearly. Their faith was in Him. They looked to Him for help and He helped them.
Not so with America today. We have lost much of our basic trust in God. No longer do we clearly see his wisdom, power, and love. We have put our trust in men and they are failing. We have laid aside the Bible, not only in our schools but in our homes and in our public life as well.
Small wonder we have lost our concept of sin, our condemnation of wrongdoing. Bloodshed and violence fill our land. Again and again we have affirmed the rights of men at the cost of God’s rights!
Yes, we should be thankful to God for many other reasons, but let me mention just one more. We should give God thanks because, God Gave Us Jesus! Jesus Christ is the highest expression and the greatest reason why we should give God thanks. Jesus is the Star of the stage in this Universal, Ecclesiastical Theater of Life. Without Him there is no Salvation, no Eternal Life, and No Sure Victory over Death.
Give Thanks because: “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but has everlasting life (John 3:16)”.
The prophet Isaiah proclaimed Jesus’ coming and called Him,
Wonderful Counselor, Might God, Everlasting Father and Prince
of Peace.
John the Baptist referred to Him as the Lamb of God.
Matthew said He is Emmanuel – God with Us!
Mark said He is the Messiah, which means Anointed One!
Luke said He is the Universal Savior, the compassionate healer and
Teacher.
John said He is the Word that became flesh and dwelt among us full of grace and truth!
Paul said He is the Author and Finisher of our Faith!
You see, they proclaim this about Jesus because:
He is God’s only Son and Our Lord.
He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.
Suffered under Pontius Pilate, crucified, Dead and Buried. He descended into Hell but rose again the 3rd day. He ascended into heaven, sitting down at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead because; He took the sting out of Death and robbed the grave of its Victory!
There have been folks such as Lazarus, who have lived, died, lived and died, but Jesus is the only one who has ever lived, died, and lived!
For He lives forever more and… Because He lives we can be thankful.
Because He lives we can face tomorrow.
This is Rev Dr. Wm. Rocky Brown, 3rd letting you know that GOD and I Love you, and we approve this message because we want to motivate your mind, body & soul. So be happy and enjoy the blessings of The LORD today my friend! Please subscribe to my website to receive these messages daily at http://www.yourspiritualmotivation.com. You can also buy my publication: “800 SAYINGS BY OLD FOLKS WHO RAISED US” from Amazon.com or by email: wmrocbe@aol.com or by calling 215-480-5333. The cost is $20.00 s/h included.
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