Thanksliving

Happy Fall Friends!
I sat down today and decided to write down all the things that I am thankful for. It is a task that quickly became very time consuming and lengthy. There are so many things that I am thankful for. At the top of the list is: (drum roll please), of course, my God and my family. I am sure many of you will share those same things as Thursday rolls around. But here is the thing…even though my list is long and is taking me a long time to write them out, I don’t really think that I am thankful enough. What I mean is this: God wants us to have a lifestyle of thankfulness and that is something that I don’t live up to.
I was sitting in church and the sermon for the day was on Thanksliving. In a nutshell, it was a call to a life of thanks. It was in that moment that I started to examine where I was really at as far as being thankful. Do I look at my daily situations, circumstances and struggles with a thankful heart? Or do I walk through my days with a hardness that doesn’t allow me to see the blessings in every moment. For example, my car needing to be fixed could be a cause for thankfulness: I actually have a car. Or, like in most cases, I could complain that I will have to change my schedule and plans because I can’t use my car for that day.
In Psalm 50:14, it refers to thanksgiving as a sacrifice to the Lord. In Jonah 2, in the midst of a horrible situation Jonah cries out to God with a song of thanksgiving and then is delivered. It sounds like there is a key hidden in here about thankfulness. Could it be that the sacrifice of thanksgiving is so pleasing to the Lord that in turn He wants to bless us? I think that God is beginning to teach me about this revelation of His character. I do know that when I am living with a thankful heart, I see more blessings in my life. It is something to ponder on during this time of thankfulness.
I need to be more thankful! God is working in my heart this season. I pray that He is touching your heart also. Enjoy your families, friends and of course all the food as you look to Him and thank Him for all He has done! Happy Thanksgiving!