Thankful...for Him.

   "I love you mommy!  You're the best mommy in the whole world!"

   Recently, my son exclaimed these words to me and gave me a great big hug to go along with them.  All of this in response to my saying "yes" to his request.  It was sweet, it felt good to hear him say that, but it only took a moment for me to wonder if he would feel the same way if I had said "no".  

   I looked into those big, brown, happy eyes of his and held him close.  

"I love you too.  So very much!  

And son, I hope that you would love me just as much if I had said no instead of yes."

   

   I've been thinking a lot about God's goodness to me.  How even when he doesn't say "yes", he is still good.   He is always good.  And we can always be thankful.  Not just for what he gives or for what he is doing, but most of all for what he has already done.  

More than that, we can be thankful for who he is.

   No matter what we have or don't have on this earth, we have abundant riches in Christ!  No one can ever take that away.  

   There have been times where I have attempted to motivate gratitude in myself or in my children by turning their thoughts toward how good they have it.  If they don't like their shoes for example, I have said "You should be thankful, some children don't even have shoes.  Some children walk around barefoot!  Be thankful you don't have to!"  I confess I have been frustrated with ingratitude.  It grieves a mother's heart to hear her children complain.  But I am seriously doubting my methods.    

   Should I look to others who have it worse than I do to motivate gratitude in my heart?  Shouldn't all people across the face of this earth be thankful unto God and bless His name?  Shoes or no shoes.  House or no house.  Cell phone or no cell phone.  Whatever we have or don't have, God is still God.  And he is still good.

You make known to me the path of life;

in your presence there is fullness of joy; 

at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Psalm 16:11

   And I'm thinking long and hard about what it means to be truly thankful.  And I think back to the beginning of it all.  To the first man and woman who experienced the goodness of God.  Everything they had was beautiful and precious.  Most of all their relationship, their sweet communion with the very Creator of their souls.  Yet Eve was deceived, she thought there was something better.  Something that God was withholding from her.  This is where thankfulness ceased and doubt came in.  Exchanging the truth of God for a lie.  The created thing being adored and loved, the God who made them being forgotten. (See Romans 1:18-25) 

  

  And so it is today.  Not much has changed.  We are deceived when we think that there is anything better than to worship and serve our Creator.  Just like Eve, who reached for the fruit that would be the death of her, we too reach for things that harm us.  We also reach for things that, though they may seem good and pleasant, are a serious hindrance in our relationship with God.  The most important and crucial relationship we will ever have.  This covetousness, this lust for more than what he has given us...it's idolatry (Col. 3:5).  

   This Thanksgiving season has been a time for me to consider how I can be more thankful to God  throughout the coming year.  To evaluate my day to day life and ask myself if I am living a life of gratitude toward God.  

   Being thankful is so foundational in our daily walk with God.  To live with the understanding that all the riches we have in Christ Jesus are enough, to trust that what he has given us is what he has decided we should have.  And to trust that he is perfect in wisdom and in power.

   Have you ever said "I'll be happy when...________" ?   You fill in the blank.  This is ungodly thinking.  Shouldn't we be thankful to our God who never changes, and who has placed us in the right here and now?  Who desires for us to honor him in every circumstance?  Are you finding all your joy and satisfaction in God? If not, you are looking to other things for the joy that only he can give.  Many people are deceived and think that "the grass is greener on the other side" but they fail to realize the best place to be is in close fellowship with God, with a clear conscience.  Never doubting his goodness, but rather loving him with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength and loving our neighbor as our self (Luke 10:27).  That is where true peace, joy and happiness lies.  

 Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, 

for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.  Keep your life free from

love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said,  

"I will never leave you nor forsake you."

So we can confidently say, 

"The Lord is my helper;

I will not fear;

what can man do to me?"

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Through him then let us continually offer up 

a sacrifice of praise to God, 

that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.

{Hebrews 13:4-6, 8, 15}