Being thankful is important to God. Throughout the scriptures we are encouraged and challenged to bring an offering (spirit) of thanksgiving. In Leviticus God laid out instructions as to how the people of Israel were to bring such an offering of Thanksgiving. In chapter seven details are given as how they were to prepare it and then how the offering of Thanksgiving was to be used entirely in the day it was given. They were to use up the offering before the next morning. (Leviticus 7:12-15) The spirit of thanksgiving was to start fresh in the day. Later God tells Moses that one was to offer the offering of thanksgiving of their own will. (Leviticus 22:29). Throughout the rest of the Old Testament one can find God’s people bringing such a gift.
I feel it’s important to realize that God wants us to have a thankful heart, a thankful spirit. Yet, it can never be a forced thing. A grateful heart has to be one of true and pure gratitude. Not a feeling because someone made me feel guilty. Real thanksgiving must be truly from the heart and of one’s own will. Another thing it needs to be a daily thing. A heart of gratitude needs to come fresh every morning. It is the spirit of this sinful world that causes us to be unthankful.
So I want to challenge you to lose feelings of bitterness, hate, feeling sorry for yourself, worry and fear that rob us from true gratitude. We can let life cause us to live with gritted teeth so that we become one with this world’s spirit of being unthankful. Yes, everyone has struggles and you may feel yours is worse than everyone else. Yet, you are not alone in your problems, people will get up in the morning and face things we can’t imagine facing. Yet, in the darkest hour one can find many things to be thankful over. A thankful heart seems to make the sun come up in one’s life. I found the following story that was told by Dr. Norman Vincent Peal. It shows how a thankful heart can change a dark life.
The story is of a man who was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. This man had been a vital, dynamic individual. Now he had become an empty shell of a man. Then someone suggested that the way for him to avoid further breakdown and be healed was by the practice of what is called the attitude of gratitude.
He was advised to sit down and make a list of all the people who had helped him over the years. Then he was to fill his mind with thankfulness for all that these men and women had done for him. He was asked if he had ever thanked anyone for what he or she had done for him.
“No,” he said, “I never really laid much stress on that.”
The next advice was to think of someone who had especially blessed his life and send that person a letter of thanks. He thought of a schoolteacher who was now elderly. He sat down and wrote a letter telling her that he remembered all the inspiration she has given him, that he had never forgotten her over the years and how much he loved her. A few days later, he received a letter written in a trembling hand. Using his boyhood name, it said, “Dear Willy, when I think back over all the children I have taught in my life time, you are the only one who ever wrote to thank me for what I did as a teacher. You have made me so happy. I read your letter every night. I will cherish your words until the day I die.”
This did so much for the man that he thought of someone else to write to. Then someone else came to mind and before he was through he had written 500 unexpected letters of thanks and appreciation. And the therapy of thanksgiving had much to do with curing him of his nervous depression. It lifted him above himself and into the secret of real living. He was grateful from that time on for every new day, and lived life to its fullest.
I have thought back of those who have touched my life. I have dug through some files and desks draws and looked at old letters. I have walked down memory lane a bit. I told myself I couldn’t become unthankful. I can’t allow such a spirit to grip my heart. I cannot allow this worlds thinking to grab my heart and cause me to forget all my wonderful gifts that God has made sure touched my life. I have to make sure I’m grateful every day that I know how to say Thank You from my heart.
As I looked back I thought of;
My Parents, My Grand Parents.
The first Sunday School teacher I ever remember. My first school teachers.
My first youth leader. A dean at church camp, a softball coach at church camp.
The evangelist that first preached me to an altar. A camp evangelist that shook my life with his preaching. Another camp evangelist that preached me to a life changing commitment.
Those who have taught me, trained me, lead me, and showed me how to live for God.
A young lady, who impressed me, loved me and became my wife.
My children. My father in law and mother in law. My brother and sisters, my brother-in-laws and sisters-in-laws. The first people I pastored. An elder who wrote me a letter of encouragement. A leader who sent me a note to tell me he believed in me. A friend who took time to thank me for being a friend. The list seemed to run on and on. I didn’t get here by myself. There are a lot of fingerprints on my life. To which I am grateful! I Thank God for how far I have come. I am grateful that He touched my life.
As I look at my life I realize I cannot take on the spirit of the world and become unthankful.
I need to say Thank You. I will need another dose of thanksgiving in the morning. I want to live with a grateful heart.
Let me finish this with a thought from my wife from some years back.
I sat here today with a few moments to myself and followed a story. The message was of eternal value. It reached into every avenue of our life, our family, friends, and any other relationships that we might have. The premise of the story was what would you say if you knew you only had three minutes left to live? Who would you need to leave a message for, to forgive, or just hold close one more time? In the busy world that we live in we have every advantage to communicate with people and yet we communicate less than ever before. We think about doing things like calling or writing a note but we so seldom take that moment of time and let someone else know how we really feel. Why is that when most of us cherish those few handwritten letters we received while dating, or letters from fathers while they were away at war or just away. I imagine somewhere you’ve seen such a bundle of letters tied with a ribbon, saved in a special place. I know I seen such bundles and I have such bundles. Those from my father who was serving his family and country and those I received from that young man who became my husband and those I’ve since received from my husband.
So if you only had a few moments left and just a paper napkin to write on, what would you write? Who would you need to say those last words to? You have been given this space of time, this 24 hours, this day, don’t waste the time. Use it to tell your family you love them and how much they mean to you. You just might find the effort comes full circle and instead of you blessing someone else, in the writing or saying of those words you find a blessing for yourself.
You’ve just been given three minutes…what are you waiting for?
~ Stephanie Crabtree
Happy Thanksgiving
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