Sweet Thanksgiviing
Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever! 1Chronicles 16:8
If I wanted to right now I could walk down the steps and into my kitchen and dish up a nice bowl of Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream. Sweet, regular, high fat, full sugar ice cream. In fact, I do want to which is what got me thinking about how thankful I am for the abundance I live in. If there wasn’t any in my freezer and I really wanted it – I could just go get it. That makes me thankful.
Ice cream is just one small indicator of the blessings I live with every day. As I was studying what the Bible has to say about prayer for a lesson I taught this morning I was struck by how often we are told to be thankful. As I thought about it I realized just how much I have to be grateful for – in addition to ice cream!
My husband often includes in his prayers a line from Psalm 16:6. He thanks God as David did when he said, “The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance. “ When we talk about it sometimes we wonder at the truth of that statement for us and for most of the Christians we know. The lines have been drawn in pleasant places for us. We live with more than we need but that is the tip of the iceberg!
We have a God, a mighty, compassionate, merciful, gracious God, who says that He is near. He promises to never leave us nor forsake us. In the rest of Psalm 16 David offers thanksgiving to God for much more than material goods. He offers thanks like this:
I bless the LORD who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me. I have set the LORD always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure. For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption. You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Psalm 16:7-11
David is thankful for God’s counsel and for the security He offers knowing He is at David’s right hand. This brings rejoicing from David. Rejoicing is gratitude expressed in joy. David is sure of God’s promises that he won’t see corruption but will know the joy of being in God’s presence – now as well as in heaven! He is expecting and thanking God in anticipation of “pleasures evermore!”
When we offer thanksgiving to God I fear that we usually think on the level of ice cream and even paychecks. But, when we look at the scriptures and see how much we have to be thankful for material abundance is a drop in the bucket compared to the spiritual gifts God has given us. Those of us who know Jesus Christ as Savior have the hope of something far greater than anything we can imagine on earth. Our future is nothing but peace, love and joy in the presence of God for all eternity.
I am very grateful to God for the provision He makes for me and for my family. We rest secure in knowing that He will supply our every need. At this point He has covered both needs and wants. I pray that I never forget that He is the One who supplies all that we have. It is only because of His generosity to us that we live so well.
I also know that it is Him, the Lord God Almighty, who saved us and has provided the spiritual food that has fed us to date. It is He who is to be honored and glorified for His abundant provision for us in every way. We truly lack nothing.
I do sometimes wonder though, what if He did not provide for us so abundantly? What if He provided for our needs only? Am I spoiled? Would I be ungrateful if I were to lose it all tomorrow? Would I have the attitude of the prophet in Habakkuk? Here is what he said:
Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. GOD, the Lord, is my strength; He makes my feet like the deer’s; He makes me tread on my high places. To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. Habakkuk 3:17-19
Though I am grateful for sweet ice cream – and every other physical thing that God has blessed us with – they cannot be my focus. The Provider is far greater than the provision. It is to Him that we must be grateful – for His sweet spiritual riches more than the earthly riches.
Oh give thanks to the LORD; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples!1Chronicles 16:34