Don't Recycle Thanksgiving
Gerry Thomas, a salesman for C.A. Swanson and Sons, is credited with inventing the TV dinner in 1953. The idea came about after Swanson had leftover turkeys from Thanksgiving and needed to find a way to keep them from going bad. So he packaged the leftovers into tiny aluminum trays and latched his wagon to the rise of the obsession with in home entertainment and, Voilà, the TV dinner was born.
A genius idea if you're into recycled "thanksgiving."
Recycled "thanksgiving" might be just fine when it's packaged in a disposable, alumininum tray, basking in the glow of the boob tube, but it's definitely not what's on the menu when it comes to a heart of praise.
Scripture exhorts us to "Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you" (1 Thessalonians 5:18, ESV). To adequately rise to the demands of this commandment, we must be very actively, very currently, very continuously engaged in the practice of praise and gratitude.
The King desrves the full and fresh feast of our thanksgiving, not the remnants and leftovers of a heart consumed with earthly cares and distractions.
"Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!" (Psalm 100:4, ESV).
Who Robs A Food Bank?
The Inland Valley Daily Bulletin reports:
A local nonprofit is in dire need of help after thieves broke into its food pantry last weekend and walked away with office equipment and cleared out its shelves.
Larry Kapchinsky, the co-founder of KidCare International, estimates this has set back the pantry about $20,000. Now he’s asking the community to help them feed needy families this holiday season.
“A whole year of preparing for this season got wiped out in one night,” he said … Kapchinsky said he was in disbelief when the volunteer called to tell him the news. “Who steals from a food bank? We would have given them help if they just asked,” he said.
Kapchinsky says the suspects went into the freezer and took almost all the items, leaving unwanted items in the freezer. Those items went to waste because the freezer door stayed open.
“What they didn’t steal, they trashed,” he said.
Some people would rather resort to desperate measures, including stealing from a food bank, rather than ask for the help they need.
But thanksgiving begins with a willingness to receive. Don’t rob God of the gratitude He is due because you don’t know how to receive what has been freely given to you. And understand that even more valuable than all of the things the world has to offer is the possession of a grateful heart. Gratitude makes us rich. Possessing the whole world, without the proper gratitude toward God, leaves us poor.
“What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” (Mark 8:36).
Always A Reason To Be Thankful
A cowboy was riding his stallion down a dirt road when a police officer flashed his lights and pulled him over. He said, "Sir, I have been trying to pull you over for a mile. Do you know that your wife fell off the horse, a mile down the road?" The cowboy smiled and replied, "Thank God, I thought for a moment that I had become deaf."
In every season of life, we can find a reason to be thankful!
"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28).
Additional Application:
If you're having a difficult time hearing God's voice, make sure you haven't left Him somewhere back down the road!
"The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful" (Matthew 13:22).