It’s About More than the Bird

I love this time of year, and I especially love the Thanksgiving time.  It has nothing to do with the fact that my birthday is just two days after Thanksgiving.  (you’ll find my address for your cards and gifts is below.) 

I love Thanksgiving because it give us an opportunity as a population to give thanks to the creator and sustainer of all things.  It offers us a chance to worship, and to praise together. 

I think, however, that we sometimes miss what matters because there is so much attention paid to the details and the festivity that we neglect the mandate of giving thanks.  Let me borrow something from comedian Jeff Foxworthy and alter it slightly to make my point:

If you find yourself spending a couple of hours at the table scanning the advertising fliers and plotting your attack plan for the sales on Friday morning and throwing out a quick prayer at the dinner table on Thursday night, you might have missed what really matters. 

If you spend more time getting on your favorite team’s jersey and preparing snacks and beverages for the big game then you do giving thanks to the God of heaven, you might be missing what matters.

If you spend hours traveling to gather together with family, some of whom you only see once or twice a year, and you spend several hours gathered in a home together for the celebration, but you don’t stop to offer thanks to the Lord for His many blessings in your life and share that with your family, you might be missing what really matters.

If you spend hundreds of dollars at the grocery store, and hours if not days preparing a meal for your family and friends, but you skip church on Sunday because you are too tired or too busy, you might have missed what matters.

Fact is, Thanksgiving is not exclusively a Christian observance, but it certainly should be observed by believers in all that it is intended to be, because if anyone has reason to be thankful on November 24th (and always) it is the follower of Christ.  So, don’t miss what matters.  All the rest of the things are ok, but in your preparations remember the most important thing is not the food, festivities, or even the family.  The most important thing is the Thanksgiving for God’s provision and blessing in your life.

A Psalm of Thanksgiving!

Psalm 100:1-5
¹ Shout triumphantly to the Lord, all the earth.
² Serve the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs.
³ Acknowledge that the Lord is God. He made us, and we are His — His people, the sheep of His pasture.
⁴ Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and praise His name.
⁵ For the Lord is good, and His love is eternal; His faithfulness endures through all generations.

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