Thought for the Week

Scriptures to Read:

Psalm 92:1

Psalm 100:4

Psalm 107:1

Ephesians 5:20

Colossians 4:2

Psalm 8:1-9

II Peter 3:9-15

This should be Thanksgiving Week. I hope you will take some time to express thanks. Of course it is great when you give thanks to people who love you, serve you, bless you, minister to you. But I am more concerned that we take time to give thanks to God. I'd like to see us express our thanks in two ways.

First, give thanks to God for what He has done for us, and for what He has given us: I am not sure how far and wide Herald subscribers live. My guess is most of us live in the United States. God has given freedom a major blessing. He has given most of us jobs or other income. He has given us health, education and well-being. Before you tell me that you do these things for yourself, let me remind you that if God did not provide as the primary Source, you would have nothing and be nothing.

James reminds us, "Every good and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of lights,..." So health, strength, resource, opportunity, ability are from God. God has given us senses: We can touch, taste, see, hear, and smell. Not everyone has all five perfectly. Yet, even with imperfection, most of us have lots to thank God for. Our human bodies are so very complex. The world in which we live is so beautifully balanced to provide for our needs.

Example: God has provided air with an adequate amount of oxygen, which we can breathe. He has given us lungs which absorb that oxygen and expel carbon dioxide. The oxygen is used to provide energy and heat which our bodies need to survive. We could not live if God did not provide all the elements in proportion and bodies equipped to use those elements.

Second, give thanks to God for Who He is. God has a multitude of wonderful attributes that make Him perfect to be God. Of course I can not mention all of those attributes in the space of this "Thought." In fact, I could not mention all of them if I had opportunity to use the whole newspaper. One attribute for which I am specifically thankful is God's "long-suffering" nature. Once long ago, God's patience exhausted. At that point "man's wickedness was great, every imagination of the thoughts of his heart were only evil continually." God destroyed all that breathed air on the earth with the exception of eight people and a supporting cast of animals.

I have no idea why we continue to survive today, for it seems we must be about as wicked as men were in that day. But God continually allows us to live. He calls us to repent of our evils and turn to Him to be forgiven. Instead, we mock Him, scorn Him, reject Him, defy Him; we misuse the world He has given us to live in and we mistreat our fellow human beings.

So today (and on surrounding days) I say "Thank You God for Who You are." "Than You God for giving us so many blessings and a wonderful world to live in." "Thank You God for people You have placed in this world today." "Help me to clearly demonstrate my love for You and for them."