The Giver And The Gifts (Thanksgiving)

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.”