Thanksgiving

“I never knew how to worship until I knew how to love.” -Henry Ward Beecher

This week includes a holiday that is supposed to be centered around praise and showing gratitude for all we have but has become a holiday that is centered entirely around food. Most of us spend the entire day or days before, preparing for a dinner that everyone will eat in under an hour. Where is the satisfaction in that? Usually, eating the food is the most satisfying part. So much so, that we overindulge and are miserable for hours after.

So, how do we get back to worship? How do we get back to praise and giving thanks? To worship, we first have to get back to love. When we love Christ and see how much He loves us, it’s hard to not share that.

“By him, therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.” -Hebrews 13:15

We should be offering praise to God continually.

My pastor said something during church yesterday like, "Stop saying Thanksgiving and start thanks-living." What he meant by that, was, instead of being worried about the Thanksgiving holiday and all that goes into the day, we should be living with the act

of giving thanks in our everyday lives. It's an ongoing process, not just reserved for one day a year.

Seems easy right? Until push comes to shove and one inconvenient thing after another happens, and everyone around you is grumpy.

Then we don't have to give thanks for our blessings, right? Wrong. That's how it may feel. It isn't always comfortable to give thanks when everyone else around you is struggling.

Henry Ward Beecher said he had to learn how to love before he could worship. God's love for you is unchanging. He is never going to love you any less or any more than He does right now. We can't comprehend that kind of love, but we can accept it. We can worship because of this love. Every night when we go to sleep, we can have that at the top of the list of blessings we count for the night and that's reason enough to praise. Sharing what God is doing in your life isn't degrading others' situations; it may seem unpopular or uncomfortable, but our testimony and the blood of Christ are how we overcome the enemy. (Revelation 12:11)

Speaking truth, praise, and what God has brought you through is life to the discouraged.

Our praise should be joyful- it shouldn't feel like a rushed chore that we only do before we stuff ourselves with turkey on Thanksgiving day.

Remember what God has done for you, and is doing- go ahead and praise Him for what He's going to do because you know it's gonna be good!

Remember to share your praise continually. Share it with joy and shouting because He is our salvation. (Psalm 95:1)

Remember there is always, always, always, to be grateful for. (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

And start thanks-living!

I hope you have a safe and happy holiday.