Illus: A group of friends went deer hunting and paired off in twos for the day. That night, one of the hunters returned alone, staggering under the weight of an eight-point buck.
• Immediately someone said, "Where's Fred?"
• The very tired hunter said, "Well, Fred had a stroke of some kind. He's a couple of miles back up the trail."
• "You left Fred laying out there and carried the deer back?!"
• The hunter said, "It was a tough call, but I figured no one is going to steal Fred!"
Life is filled with decisions that we have to make daily. It is essential that we learn to make good decisions. It has been said that more bad decisions have been made in Washington, D. C. than any place on the face of the earth. Very few of us would argue with that assessment.
But while we hear a great deal about the many bad decisions that have been made there, we very seldom hear about some of the good decisions that have been made there.
• For example, as you look back into history, you will find that the Greeks, Romans, Hebrews, Egyptians, and Canadians have set aside a day of Thanksgiving.
• If any country in the world should make a big deal over Thanksgiving, it should be the Americans.
• Never in the history of the world has any nation been blessed as abundantly as we have in America.
In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln appointed a national day of thanksgiving. Since then, each president has issued a Thanksgiving Day proclamation, usually designating the fourth Thursday of each November as the holiday.
But we all need to be concerned about this special day that has been set aside. It is falling into the same category of corruption that other Christian holidays in this nation have fallen into. For example:
• Santa Claus, Christmas trees, and Christmas parties have taken the place of Christ in Christmas
• Clothing has taken the place of Christ in Easter
• Football, Macy’s Parade and turkey have taken the place of Thanksgiving
Many will celebrate THANKSGIVING in the wrong manner and there is nothing we can do about that. But a true servant of the Lord will exhibit a life of gratitude.
Look at Psalm 116:16-17, we read, “O LORD, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid: thou hast loosed my bonds. I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD.”
Notice, the psalmist does not say, “I think I am your servant or I hope I am one of your servants”, he said, “I am thy servant..”
Once he says that, notice he gives the evidence of being a servant of the Lord in verse 17, he said, “I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving….”
We will have a hard time establishing that we are a servant of the Lord if our life is filled with GRIPING and COMPLAINING. But as those who recognize that our blessings come from the Lord, we can celebrate Thanksgiving in the right manner.
HOW SHOULD WE OBSERVE THANKSGIVING? We need to recognize some things. We need to recognize:
I. THE GIVER
The Apostle Paul tells us HOW WE SHOULD LIVE THE CHRISTIAN life in Colossians 4:2. We read that we are to be, “watchful and thankful.”
For a person to do this, they have to develop a life of looking for the good, not the bad. Perhaps someone is saying, “Preacher, you do not understand. I can not live a life of GRATITUDE because so many bad things have come my way.”
Perhaps a great deal of bad has come your way, but if you will take the time to count your blessings, you will also see a great deal of good has come your way.
• When you drive by a house that has burned down you should say, “Lord, I thank you that my house did not burn down.”
• When you see a disabled car on the highway, you should say, “Lord, I thank you that my car is still working.”
• When you drive by a funeral home and see the cars of the people who have come together to grieve over the death of a loved one, you should say, “Lord, I thank you that it is not one of my family members that has died.”
• When you drive by the hospital and you know of the hundreds of people that are in there, you should say, “Lord, I am so thankful that I am not in there.”
• We should look at some married people and say, “Lord, I am so thankful that I am not married to that person.”
• When we see a rebellious child, we should say, “Lord, I am so grateful that is not my child!”
You see, the Lord has done great things for all of us, but living in these mortal bodies (sinful), it is much easier to see the BAD than to see the GOOD.
Illus: Many people today remind us of the news media. They are convinced that all we want to hear is something bad. They go around this country trying to find something bad, and they want to make sure they are the first to report it.
If you listen to the news media each night, they dump one bad thing after another on the American people. The news media does not get it! The survey polls show that people no longer want to listen to these news commentators that only find something bad to talk about. Their ratings are continuously going down hill.
But on the other hand, Paul Harvey is loved and appreciated by millions of Americans, because every day, the majority of the things he reports are human interest stories, success stories, family lifting stories and humorous things that have taken place.
It does not matter where most of us are when Paul Harvey comes on the air or what we might be doing, we make time to listen to him because he has chosen to look for the GOOD! In this day of negative reporting it is refreshing to hear someone that looks for the GOOD.
You can always find BAD if that is what you are looking for, but you can also find GOOD if that is what you are looking for!
The Word of God says, in Colossians 3:15, “And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; AND BE YE THANKFUL.”
Notice, living a thankful life is not optional, it is a command from God almighty. “…AND BE YE THANKFUL!”
No matter how bad things may be, if you look at the GIVER OF LIFE instead of the CIRCUMSTANCES OF LIFE, you will find that you have something to be thankful for. But so often many can not see the GOOD until they have hit THE BOTTOM.
Illus: This reminds me of a story of a young man who was told by his doctor that he had only six months to live. In shock, the young man asked if there was anything that could be done. After all, he was still a young man and had many things left to do in life.
The doctor thought about his question for a bit, and then finally gave him a solution.
• The doctor told the young man to go out and find the ugliest, most cantankerous woman in the county and marry her.
• He told the young man to insure that he found a woman who would incessantly nag him, and complain about everything he said or did.
• Then he had to go out and buy the most beat-up old pickup truck he could find, preferably one that wouldn't run all of the time.
• Then he needed to buy a run down old apartment right in the middle of New York city.
Somewhat skeptical the young man looked at the doctor and asked, "Doc, are you sure that this will help me to live longer?" "Not at all," replied the doctor, “but it sure will make six months seem like a lifetime!"
So many times we spend our lives looking at the CIRCUMSTANCES OF LIFE and never pay any attention to the GIVER OF LIFE. We are to live our life being WATCHFUL for the blessings of God and then we are to be THANKFUL FOR THEM. Our focus on life should be on the GIVER of life, not the GIFTS OF LIFE!
We looked at THE GIVER, now let’s look at-
II. THE GIFTS
As we look at the GIFTS, we need to understand that some gifts can be dangerous.
Illus: Every year at Christmas they come out with a list of dangerous toys (gifts) that parents need to be cautious about giving to their children.
Now I do not always agree with the list of toys that they say are dangerous.
• For example, a child can throw a baseball and hit another child in the face with it and do major damage. We all recognize that danger, but we are not willing to do away with baseball because of that danger.
• Now I do not believe it is the smartest thing for parents to buy their children Lawn Darts.
If they had this list when many of us were growing up, we would not have had some of the nice things we had to play with.
We have to look at gifts with caution. For example, God has given us some GIFTS and we need to be aware of the danger that comes with those gifts. Such as:
(1) BEAUTY IS A GIFT FROM GOD
Beauty can be a very dangerous gift.
Illus: Little Freddie watched, fascinated, as his mother
gently rubbed cold cream on her face.
• Little Freddie said, "Why are you rubbing cold cream on your face, Mommy?"
• "To make myself beautiful," said his mother.
• A few minutes later, she began removing the cream
with a tissue.
• "What's the matter?" asked little Freddie. "Giving up?"
Illus: My wife seems to be losing her sense of humor for no apparent reason. Why, just the other day she got angry when she announced that she was going to the beauty parlor. I asked, "Are you going in for an estimate, or are you going to get the work done?"
Illus: Someone said, "The average woman would rather have beauty than brains, because the average man can see better than he can think." -- Unknown
So many that have been given the gift of beauty do not humbly receive this gift. They strut their beauty as if it was something they have done. THEY HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH IT, IT WAS A GIFT! Beauty can be a very dangerous gift, it can lead to vanity.
(2) INTELLIGENCE IS A GIFT FROM GOD
Illus: Two men were digging a ditch on a very hot day. One said to the other, "Why are we down in this hole digging a ditch when our boss is standing up there in the shade of a tree?" "I don't know," responded the other. "I'll ask him."
So he climbed out of the hole and went to his boss. "Why are we digging in the hot sun and you're standing in the shade?" "Intelligence," the boss said. "What do you mean, ‘intelligence'?"
The boss said, "Well, I'll show you. I'll put my hand on this tree and I want you to hit it with your fist as hard as you can." The ditch digger took a mighty swing and tried to hit the boss' hand. The boss removed his hand and the ditch digger hit the tree. The boss said, "That's intelligence!"
The ditch digger went back to his hole. His friend asked, "What did he say?" "He said we are down here because of intelligence." "What's intelligence?" said the friend. The ditch digger put his hand on his face and said, "Take your shovel and hit my hand."
There are some who have been blessed with this gift and they act as if it is not a gift from God, it is something they have done for themselves. Intelligence is a very dangerous gift, it can lead to pride.
The gifts from God must never be taken for granted and they must be received with humility.
BUT THE PROBLEM TODAY IS THAT MANY DO NOT KNOW WHAT A GIFT IS.
For example, salvation is a gift from God, but one of the most difficult things to explain to some folks is that it is a gift. We have been told over and over again, YOU NEVER GET SOMETHING FOR NOTHING!
Many will talk about the GIFT OF SALVATION, but before they can get the word “gift” out of their mouth, they are talking about works that have to be done to earn this free gift.
People today take the gifts of God for granted because they feel that in some way they worked for these gifts God has blessed them with.
Illus: Each year at Christmas, we say we gave Christmas gifts and the truth of the matter is that very few gave Christmas gifts. What they do is go down to Walmart’s and buy something, wrap it up in pretty paper, put a ribbon on it and then give it to someone and say, “Here is your gift, now where is mine?” And if that person says, “Well, I do not have one for you, we get upset and want to take our gift back!”
Listen, that is NOT GIFT GIVING, that is GIFT SWAPPING!” Real giving is giving something and not expecting anything in return.
God has given us all many wonderful gifts and we need to FOCUS ON THE GIVER. The GIFTS are a result of the GREAT GIVER!
God gives us GIFTS, they are not something you deserve. IF YOU DESERVED IT, IT CAN NOT BE A GIFT.
But as we look at the GIVER and the GIFTS, our hearts should swell with GRATITUDE. God is so good to us that He feels He has the right to command us. In Colossians 3:15, we read, “And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; AND BE YE THANKFUL.”
But in this verse of scripture, notice what precedes a thankful heart. Paul said, “And let the peace of God rule in your hearts…”
Each day we determine if we are going to let CHOAS RULE or the PEACE OF GOD rule in our life.
If we allow the peace of God to rule, then we will live a life of gratitude.
Conclusion:
Because of WHO HE IS and WHAT HE HAS DONE FOR US, no one should have to:
• Beg us to come to the house of God and worship Him
• Beg us to give one penny out of every dime He has blessed us with so that others can come to know Him
• Beg us to take the healthy bodies He has blessed us with and use them to spread the gospel
We have looked at:
I. THE GIVER
II. THE GIFTS
