“Thanksgiving

Read 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18.

“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

There is a reason why our culture has so enthusiastically embraced annual birthday and wedding remembrances. Time slides by, and we tend to take one another for granted. Birthdays and anniversaries are helpful reminders about the importance of the dear people whom God has sent into our lives.

An annual call to national thanksgiving is just as urgent and helpful. President Lincoln knew that America badly needed God’s help, and even in a time of terrible war, he wanted Americans to pause and express their gratitude for all the divine interventions and blessings that made their lives better.

Sinners like us need periodic wake-up calls to notice God’s working in our lives. Our instincts are either to take his gifts without noticing or thinking or to suppose that everything good in our lives comes from our own achievement.

St. Paul knew how engaged our Lord is in the lives of each believer, and he urged a Greek congregation and he urges us to pause, notice, understand cause and effect, and make a joyful noise of thanksgiving. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

What three treasures in your life can you trace back to God’s kindly giving?”

When we go through our daily routines, we tend to lose sight of how God works in our life and in the lives of those around us. There are many treasures I believe God has given me, but it says to list three.

1. I have been given shelter but not any kind of shelter. I have been given a warm home that has any necessity that I may need. There are people in every city that don’t have this treasure. This time of year, I start thinking of this trembling fact because this is the time of year those people start shivering on the cold streets.
2. I get the chance to eat a warm meal every day, or even three warm meals. Thursday is a day that we spend the day with our families and stuff our face with as much food as we can before our pants buttons pop open. On that very same day and every other day, there are those that eat out of a dumpster or not at all.

I get the opportunity to further my education and was given the opportunity to go to school in the first place. There are some communities in other countries where the children are to stay home to help with daily chores while any parent they may have works to support the family. Some children even need to get jobs as well. These three treasures are taken for granted all too often. What gifts or treauses do you take for granted that you can be thankful for this week?

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God Bless!