(Note: This is the first of a six day series intended to elevate our thanksgiving aptitude. Also, please not that to access these daily meditations from Monday through Saturday this week, you will have to go to the website below. I will not have access to Internet during the next six days, but I have written in advance meditations for each of those days to keep you God conscious and spiritually alert. I will resume direct email next Sunday.)
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present ready help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear...” (Psalm 46:1-2a)
Holiday season is upon us, referring to Thanksgiving and Christmas. Thursday most of us will have the day off to be with family and friends. The fellowship will be enjoyable. The food will be delightful. The sharing of memories of times past will be irreplaceable. Hilarious stories from the past will produce great laughter. Holding on to the faith we share will give us comfort and confidence, in spite of losses and lots of crisis.
Here’s my suggestion. Make sure that some of your conversations, if not most, are stimulated by the thinking that produces thanksgiving. When you think about the troubles God brought you through, you will be thankful. When you think back and reaffirm that He is the One in whom you can find refuge, you will be thankful. If you just think about whatever happened in your life up until this day, and including this day, and how the Lord was still God and in one way or another, He restored your gladness, renewed your strength, and revived your optimism. He delivered you in times of distress. And think about how you realized that at times you just had to be still, cease striving and acknowledge God’s supremacy; acknowledge that God is supreme, and the Lord of host was with you.
This is the type of thinking that produces thanking, thanking the Lord for being mighty good to you. Do like the songwriter encourages you to do, “Just think of his goodness to you.” And then, thank Him! By the way, you don’t have to wait until Thursday! You can thank Him more every day before and after the holiday! Have a wonderful worship service this morning! Be blessed!
“Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.” (Psalm 46:10-11 King James Version)
Still committed to the climb,
Mark L. King