The perfectly cooked turkey on Grandma’s old, white dish, the creamy, golden mashed potatoes, the fresh, buttery, creamed corn, and, of course, the soft and smooth pumpkin pie for dessert. Your meal may be very similar to this on Thanksgiving, or maybe you have something completely different. Whatever you may be enjoying on that day, we all know that the reason for the big spread is for the holiday itself, Thanksgiving. We know we are to be thankful, and we thank God for all the wonderful blessings He has given us. As this holiday approaches (very quickly, I might add) and we are spending time with our family and friends, let us not forget to be thankful, not only now, but every day of our lives. God has blessed us with so much that we don’t deserve and He deserves our thanks and praise. Today, let’s take the word, “THANKFUL”, and look at some different ways we can apply it to our lives.
T- Think. No matter what we’re thankful for, we should always think about and remember the one who gave it to us, God.
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.”
James 1:17 NKJV
H- Habit. We have so many habits in our lives that are pretty useless. Maybe it’s fidgeting or popping your fingers, but we all have habits. What about being thankful? Do we make that a habit?
“Giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,”
Ephesians 5:20 NKJV
A- Aware. Try to be aware of your surroundings and be thankful for them. When you see the beauty of God’s creation around you, you might say a prayer saying, “Father, your creation is beautiful. Thank you so much for giving us a beautiful world to live in.”
N- New. There are always going to be new things to be thankful for. When we feel like we’ve reached the end, we haven’t. Look for new things to be thankful for. We should never, ever stop thanking God for the blessings He gives us.
K- Kindness. Doesn’t it make you feel good when someone says a simple, “Thank you”? Telling someone you appreciate what they have done is just another way that we can be kind to others. Even something as simple as that, can go a long way for someone.
F- Feeling. Not only should we express our thanks to God and those around us, we must also feel it on the inside. If you really aren’t thankful, God is going to know it and it makes our words useless.
“These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me.”
Matthew 15:8 NKJV
U- Urge. Urge someone to be thankful for the things they have. Being thankful can give you a new look on things and also improve your mood.
L- Label. Make thankfulness your label. What do I mean by that? When people think of you, what do they think about? Do they think, “She’s never happy with anything she has. She’s always complaining about stuff.” Or, do they think, “She’s always so content and happy with her life.”? We teach others by our Christian example and being ungrateful isn’t going to give off the best impression. We should learn to be content and thankful and make that what people see and, most importantly, what God sees when He looks into our hearts.
“Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content:”
Philippians 4:11 NKJV
Let us all remember where our blessings came from and give thanks to God for His wonderful love.
“Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.”
Psalm 118:1 NKJV
