That’s a fair question to ask. It’s a timely question. Thanksgiving Day, our national holiday, is just around the corner. This day coincides with the timing of the harvest. Most crops, including fruits and vegetables, have been harvested and stored. Again, there is an abundance! This is a time to give thanks. Are you thankful?
Contrast this to others in light of the powerful hurricanes Irma and Maria. What devastation wrought in the Caribbean, especially St. Martens, and now Puerto Rico. Entire islands and regions wiped out; destroyed crops; flattened homes, uprooted trees and torrents of water. The scenes captured on camera, if we have any heart, should bring us to our knees; make us sorry for complaining and murmuring because our day did not go just the way we wanted!
Neither can we think that the Caribbean deserved it and we do not. We deserve the destruction just as much as they. We are no better. We are a culture of entitlement: entitled to higher wages, entitled to promotions. We live in a generation where many, without working for it, think they are entitled to all the toys others work hard for. ‘It’s all about me.’ What’s lacking in all this? Lacking is a heart of gratitude. Isn’t that true? Are you thankful?
We often forget to thank the One whose hand feeds us, clothes us, provides homes and gives us every breath of life. We owe our life to Him for the sunshine and the rains, “for fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with good and gladness.” We deserve the exact opposite. Why so? In the general attitude of ingratitude, we slap the very hand of the Giver who supplies our every need and on whose lap we sit! Yet we witness God’s patience! He continues to provide.
Yet the greatest outpouring of His love is that He sent His Son, Jesus, as the sacrifice for sinners, for the sin of ingratitude. This should cause us to say ‘sorry’ to Him for all our ingratitude. Only when we turn to Him, embrace His Gift of love by faith, will He change our hearts. When His love is in us, our hearts begin to overflow with thankfulness; not just one day, but every day of our lives. God becomes the center of our universe and our whole life is living in humble thanks.
May our Thanksgiving Day be more than a token of thanks. Let us use this day to meditate for some moments on this important question: Am I thankful?
By Pastor Tony Zekveld
Oct 1, 2017