December 1, 2019
As I was eating Thanksgiving Dinner at my mom’s house, surrounded by my family, I found it very easy to be thankful. I mean, turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, green beans, green bean casserole, mac and cheese…who wouldn’t be thankful? And we haven’t even mentioned dessert! In between bites, I thought of what Paul wrote in I Thessalonians 5:18 “Give thanks in every circumstance; for this is God’s will for you in Jesus Christ”. I believe every word of the Bible was put there for a reason, so when God, through the pen of Paul tells us that it is His will for us to be thankful in every circumstance, I believe He means just that…EVERY circumstance. I’m not sure about you, but I have a whole heap of things I am not very thankful for. Heart trouble, getting older, brussels sprouts, and turnip greens are at the top of my list. I mean, isn’t it impossible to be thankful in EVERY circumstance? Well, it is if we are trying to be thankful under our own power. Notice the last phrase of Paul’s statement. It reads “In Christ Jesus”. Turns out, we are need of a surgical procedure courtesy of the Great Physician. We need heart surgery. Dr. Jesus is able to take our generally ungrateful hearts and give us heart transplants. While it is good to list the things for which we are thankful and it is definitely beneficial to count our blessings, what we really need to be doing is praying earnestly for Jesus to give us thankful hearts. With thankful hearts, we will begin to see things and circumstances through a different set of lenses. Who knows, perhaps with a heart transplant from Dr. Jesus, turnip greens might taste just like Reese’s. Now, THAT I could be thankful for!
Be blessed and be a blessing…Bro. Andy
📷
