“Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.” (Psalm 100 NIV)
It is the common tradition around many Thanksgiving celebrations to recount those things for which we are thankful. Going around the table or the room, people recount the things for which they are grateful—family members, a good job, freedom, financial security, the dream vacation they were able to take, good health, etc. I have participated in these Thanksgiving rituals many times and they are a good exercise in recognizing how good our lives are and being grateful, even if they are far from perfect and not without struggles.
However, the flaw in this holiday ritual often is where the focus lies. Is it mostly on what we have been given or is it on the One whom has ultimately provided it for us? Allow me to illustrate. On Christmas morning, children excitedly open their presents. Upon discovering what they have received, most will turn to their parents and say, “Thanks, Mom and Dad!” But are they thanking them primarily because they are grateful to their parents for their love and generosity, or because of what they now have in their possession?
Notice in this psalm of David, the exhortation to be thankful flows from first recognizing the Giver for who He is, not for what He has provided. The Israelites had been given plenty, but the focus was first and foremost on the Giver and Him alone.
There is certainly nothing wrong with being thankful for all that we have been given and, in fact, that should be a consistent attitude we have. But if that is our sole focus, what happens when those things are taken away? I am so thankful to God for my wife whom I love so much, but could I remain thankful to God if she were taken away from me? Could I continue to give thanks to Him if the home I so enjoy living in was suddenly destroyed? And would I remain grateful to Him if my health suddenly took a turn for the worse?
In honestly answering these or similar questions, we can get a truer sense of the focus of our thankfulness. Is it first and foremost on the Giver or on that which has been given?
Today and during this week of celebrating Thanksgiving, consider the reasons you are thankful. It is a wonderful thing, particularly in such a self-centered world, to acknowledge your gratefulness for what you have been given, but at the same time, do not forget the Giver of all things. He is the Source of all that we have been given; thus, He, and not merely His gifts, should be the object of our gratefulness.
© Jim Musser 2017
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