Thankfulness
The story is told of a farmer who, “one year when Christmas Day came on a Sunday, decided to go to church. (Like some people, he thought he was fulfilling his religious obligation by going to church twice a year – at Christmas and Easter!) The sermon that day was preached from Isaiah 1:3 which says ‘The ox knows his owner and the donkey his master’s trough: but Israel does not know, my people do not consider.’ Isaiah said that man is dumber than the animals. After church the farmer returned home and stood among his cows. One of them began to lick his hand – a practical demonstration of the sermon he had just heard. Strong man though he was, the farmer began to weep as he thought, ‘God did much more for me, and yet I never thanked Him. My cow is far more grateful than I am and what do I ever give her other than grass and water?’ “
It is quite true that people take their blessings for granted. The old hymn teaches us to “count our blessing,” even “name them one by one.” It will truly surprise you what the Lord has done!” Think right now how your life would be radically changed if even one particular blessing was removed. Say for instance you suddenly became a widow or widower; what if you found out you were being laid off from your job? What if your doctor diagnosed you with terminal cancer? What if you arrived home later today to see that your home had burned down? What if one of your children became the latest victim of yet another school shooting; what if a car accident this afternoon left you paralyzed from the neck down? These are real things happening to real people each and every day! They are not made up, they are real!
When we consider our blessings, here is some food for thought: If you woke up this morning with more health than illness…you are more blessed than the million who will not survive this week. If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation…you are ahead of 500 million people in the world. If you can attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or death…you are more blessed than three billion people in the world. If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes, on you back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep…you are richer than 75% of this world. If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace…you are among the top 8% of the world’s wealthy. If your parents are still alive and still married…you are very rare, even in the United States (Copied; author unknown).
It is a matter of focus. Will you focus on what you do not have, or on what you do have? We may not have everything we want, but maybe we are wanting too much. Maybe God will bless us with more when we learn to be thankful for what we already have? In the New Testament, the expectation of the steward, in each and every realm, is that he/she be found faithful. Are you faithful and thankful for all God has provided, or have you acted as though you deserve all that you have? God’s desire for us is that we be thankful in all things. In 1Thes. 5:18 Paul wrote, “in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God for you.” God has not asked us to accomplish great and magnificent feats, but quite simply just to offer thanks!
In Christ,
Pastor Allen Raynor