Give Thanks

I Thessalonians 5:18In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

How would your life be different today if you only had what you thanked God for yesterday? Would you be homeless? Hungry? Dressed in rags? Would you have any family or friends? How about your health and sanity? Would you have any of the comforts that we take for granted? We live in a country where even poor people are fat, while in other countries there are poor people who are literally starving to death. We live in a country where we might get funny looks from people if we practice our faith openly, while in other countries Christians are locked up in prison, beaten, and even killed just for having a page or two from the Bible in their possession. We serve the true God, who is so powerful that He could just speak and the universe was created, yet He loves us so much that He came to live as one of us and die in our place, to pay for our sins, so that we could live with Him forever. While our God is reaching down to us to bring us up to Him, followers of false gods are busy reaching up to their gods, trying to say enough prayers, hand out enough literature, receive all the right sacraments, do enough good deeds, or whatever else they have to do in order to get to Heaven or wherever it is they’re trying to get to.

We have a lot to be thankful for. Let’s not take it for granted.

Psalm 140:13Surely the righteous shall give thanks unto thy name: the upright shall dwell in thy presence.