This week is
Thanksgiving. You may be asked several
times about what you are thankful for. I
have enjoyed reading posts on Facebook where people post one thing each day
which they are thankful. I try to also
practice this daily with my children. We
talk about one thing they are thankful for each day. It is important that we have a thankful heart
because that is a heart that spends less time complaining or focused on
ourselves and more time focused on the One who has blessed us.
For me, this
Thanksgiving is extra special. Last
year, we spent the day after Thanksgiving waiting at Duke for my Dad to have
Pancreatic surgery. It reminded me that
life is short and we can't let the valuable time we have here go to waste. Personally, wasted time is the time we spend
complaining and whining, ungrateful, angry, and resentful. In contrast, I want to read a scripture today
which identifies to me 4 ways to live this life. Maybe this will give us something to refocus
our thanksgiving this year.
Romans
12:9-21
Paul packs a
lot into these short verses. There is
much wisdom to be gained. I want to just
focus on four areas that might change our perspective and give us a new outlook
for this Thanksgiving…and maybe in living life.
I know I could certainly use the reminder. Note that these four things all work together.
1 – Loving
We are
reminded to be loving to one another.
This includes putting others first.
It even means showing kindness to our enemies. Jesus first taught this to us. There is nothing easy about any of this. People are unlovable much of the time. I know I certainly can be. To love others and to love our neighbors goes
back to what we have learned from the Old Testament and also from the teachings
of Jesus. We must first love God. If we love God with all of our heart, soul,
mind and strength, then we find it is possible to love others. I'm not saying this will ever be easy. I am saying that it is only possible by the
love of God which lives in us. But, if
we are loving, it certainly can turn the world upside down.
2 – Rejoicing
We are told
to rejoice in hope and rejoice with those who rejoice. There should be rejoicing going on. We have a hope like no other and in that hope
comes rejoicing. That means that even
though we are crushed, downtrodden, persecuted, and beaten up, we can rejoice in
the Lord who is our strength and our shield.
We will not find long term rejoicing in our own accomplishments. We find true rejoicing in the Lord. We find true rejoicing in what He has done
for us. We can rejoice even when we
don't feel like rejoicing if we find the source of our joy.
3 – Praying
Prayer is so
important…it is a privilege…it is a gift.
The problem is that we don't often view it as such. We are blessed to be able to come before the
maker of the heavens and earth. We are
privileged to be able to lay our cares and concerns at the feet of Jesus. We should be overjoyed that we can be in
constant communication with the One who truly does care for us. If we are going to rejoice, if we are going
to love others, if we are going to live this life as He would have us to, we
must spend time in prayer. There are no
exceptions to that. And when we can't
seem to find the words to pray, sit in the presence of the Lord. He already knows. Just sit and listen. He has much to say.
4 - Serving
Finally,
serving is important. We are told to
serve the Lord, serve one another, take care of the needs of each other, serve
our enemies. In other words, we are to
serve the Lord first and let Him guide us as we live a life of service. What does service do? It keeps our mind off of what is wrong with
us. If I am doing something for someone
else, I am not worried about me. As long
as I am giving of myself, then I am humbled and am placing others first. Serving cannot be done effectively without
love. Do you see how these are all
coming together? If I am praying and
putting God first, He is directing me to love others and to serve others. If I do that, I am rejoicing at what He is
doing. I spread that rejoicing to
others, who in turn, serve and love God and serve and love others.
How about at
thanksgiving, we change our attitudes, our minds, and our hearts? Why don't we instead pray continuously about
where God is leading and find ourselves loving, serving…and rejoicing through
it all. That could not only change this
holiday, but change our lives and the lives of those around us. That could be a great start to the Christmas
season as well.
