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Being Thankful
National Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C. BEING THANKFUL . . . . Until you become thankful, you will never find joy. Being thankful is not telling God you appreciate the fact that your life is not in shambles. If that is the basis of your gratitude, you are on slippery ground. Every day of your life you face the possibility that a blessing in your life may be taken away. But blessings are only signs of God's love. The real blessing, of course, is the love itself. Whenever we get too attached to the sign, we lose our grasp on the God who gave it to us. Churches are filled with widows who can explain this to you. We are not ultimately grateful that we are still holding our blessings. We are grateful that we are held by God even when the blessings are slipping through our fingers. Only when we see this are we able to be truly joyful, because then we have made God our joy. We still cherish the blessings, but not because we have to have them. We cherish them because they are our windows into heaven. Gratitude is our ability to see the grace of God, morning by morning, no matter what else greets us in the course of the day. - M. Craig Barnes, HUSTLING GOD: WHY WE WORK SO HARD FOR WHAT GOD WANTS TO GIVE, Zondervan, 1999, page 155. [Well, that's enough to help fine-tune my Thanksgiving prayers. May the Lord allow each of us to know the incredible magnitude of his love and blessing in our lives. "Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide; Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow. Great is thy faithfulness." AMEN!] Happy Thanksgiving, Chip Stam Pastor of Worship and Music Chapel Hill Bible Church Chapel Hill, North Carolina |