Taking inventory of the many things to be thankful for
In 1966 during the “God is dead” movement, Jim Bishop wrote an article for the Miami Herald titled, “There Is No God?” What Bishop wrote was written to expose the foolishness of the theory of evolution. The Big Bang people have more faith than believers in what they believe. There is no God? Not hardly.
God formed creation with a design that is eternal. This Great God so loved that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever will believe in him should not perish but have eternal life. Everything I am or I have comes from him. Am I not supposed to be thankful for his provision, for his faithfulness, for his grace and mercy, his peace, and his comfort in the storm? I must thank him many times a day with a song of praise. I should and I must praise him.
The more I live, the more I see how much I have to be thankful for. Let’s list a few to help you enjoy your Thanksgiving week a little more: I’m thankful for health, fam-
ily, and many friends, for peace, joy and hope! I’m thankful Lord for the wonders of your fabulous creation. I’m thankful that we don’t live in the “good old days,” before penicillin and heart surgery, and before the cure for polio and tuberculosis. Back then life expectancy was about one half of what it is today. I don’t want to go back to travel by horse and buggy or camel or chariot. To go from here to California would take a season — now it’s about 4½ to 5 hours. I’m glad we’re able to explore space and view galaxies through giant telescopes. I hear people grumbling about the lack of speed of a Pentium II or III. How would you like to communicate by smoke signals or drums or homing pigeons?
I’m thankful for friends. It’s a really poor man, no matter what he has in assets, if he has no friends. We all need voices of encouragement, remembering birthdays, sharing laughs and sorrows, phone calls at just the right time, visits when we’re sick and prayer when we’re hurting. I’m thankful for spiritual blessings: the gift of salvation — something we could never earn — the infilling of the Holy Spirit that gives power to be a witness and power for holy living, and The Word which guides us on our journey. Lord I thank you for your plan that fulfills the soul of man — healing our mortal bodies and healing of our never dying souls and for filling our cup to overflowing.
I’m thankful for hope. Hope in life through the Lord Jesus — the ability to be an overcomer through Faith in God’s Word. I find hope in verses like Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”. We are not slaves to environment or heredity or circumstances. What about the hope of eternal life? Not only eternal but meaningful and fulfilling. Thank you for the hope of seeing mom and dad, and loved ones who’ve gone ahead.
I thank God for freedom-freedom in Christ, freedom from guilt and sin and bondage, freedom from tyranny and oppression, and freedom from being arrested for our faith. I’m thankful for the joy of living in the land of the free and the home of the brave. Freedom of speech is precious — freedom to worship without interference, to own and study the Word of God freely.
What are you thankful for this thanksgiving week? Take inventory today and give God thanks.