November 24: LET'S SAY IT AGAIN!

Maybe I’ve said enough about gratitude this week but this morning I ventured out to “observe” what was happening on Black Friday. Total mistake! What madness! I wondered how many of these folks had been in Thanksgiving Worship on Wednesday night or Thursday morning. Something got lost in translation! What’s up?
Sociologist say that every race and tribe and people in the world have some kind of Thanksgiving celebration. Certainly not a Turkey Day holiday as we have in America, but a time for expressing gratitude. For whatever people have and wherever it came from and whoever provided it, they acknowledge that fact with gratitude. It would seem that there is some sort of innate recognition that a higher power makes provisions for us and we are glad.
Now, if that is true, the natural conclusion of brilliant people in the western world who have so much of everything (including intelligence) is that all of us would have a highly developed sense of gratitude to God for more than one day.
What about you today?
Ignoring the cultural, are you personally grateful? Do you believe in God? Do you believe that God is good? Do you believe that God gives you what you have?
Then “give thanks to the Lord, call upon his name” (1 Chronicles 16:8). Psalm 100:4 instructs, “give thanks to him and praise his name.” Daily! Don’t be intimidated by family or friends who are too proud and self-centered to give thanks. Stand right up and say, “let us come before God with thanksgiving”. (Psalm 95:2) If you are concerned about your eloquence in speech, the Bible has plenty of lines to enable you to express your deep personal gratitude. If you get overcome with gratitude, say with Paul, “thanks be to God for his indescribable gift.” (2 Corinthians 9:15)
True, god’s goodness is greater than our words to describe it. Maybe you are rebutting me because I don’t know your circumstances. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says, “give thanks for all circumstances.”
O.K., thanksgiving and Black Friday are both behind us now! How can we plan today for tomorrow to be a day to share gratitude with many other Christians?

“We will forget quickly and too easily, God, all of the bounty we receive from
your hand. Thank you so much! Thank you so much! Amen”