Prepping for Thanksgiving

It’s hard to believe that Thanksgiving is almost here.  Time sure flies as you age !  Folks are busy buying and thawing out the turkeys, planning the feasts and doing all those needful preparations to observe Thanksgiving.  But as this holiday approaches, though, why not take a little time for an even better type of prepping for thanksgiving?  Why not spend some time on some good reflection on your blessings?  As a Christian, even when things are extremely trying there is always something for which we can be grateful when you set your mind to thinking on it.

Paul was winding down his brief letter to the Thessalonian believers when he wrote this gem, “In everything give thanks:  for this is the will in Christ Jesus concerning you.” (1Thess.5:18).  How can you give thanks when you are ailing physically, or you are struggling to pay the bills, or you have experienced a tragic loss of some kind?    One thing that helps us with this is understanding the apostle wrote this as a command and one in the Greek present tense  conveying it is to be characteristic in our lives.  But we don’t come by such thinking on our own, we need “outside” help, if you will !  We tend to focus on the negative things staring us down in life’s experiences and we need a nobler look, a perspective that looks at the silver lining for it IS there and we must think on that and in doing so we can become truly thankful in everything. God will see you through !

Paul goes on to say that to fixate otherwise and not be grateful is not good for us nor can it glorify God for it is not His will for you !  But to learn to be thankful (and it is a learned process) you are complying with His wishes and staving off depression, discouragement, and drawing folks to Christ with such a mindset for this will certainly draw the attention of others around you.  So take a moment today to mentally note some blessings in your life and you may find yourself very surprised, very uplifted and very grateful for what God has done !!