E2H Nov. Issue

THANKSGIVING LEFTOVERS

November means one thing: Thanksgiving Dinner! Although it should mean thanksgiving and gratitude, and it should bring us back to that pivotal moment in time when the pilgrims were instructed by the Native Americans on how to survive in this land. Most of all, November should sustain our thoughts for the rest of the eleven months about how good God is to us. But mainly when we think of this month in the fall, we think of good food.

Thanksgiving Day is properly enjoyed by the family who sits around the table and consumes turkey, dressing, cranberry sauce, vegetables, and pumpkin pie. But the following days are just as enjoyable because it’s time for thanksgiving leftovers. We become excited about turkey sandwiches, turkey stew, turkey salad, and whatever else we can turn the leftover turkey into. We snack on turkey, and we eat it for lunch and supper. And because of turkey leftovers, the days following Thanksgiving are some of the sleepiest in the 365 days of the year!

There is a correlation in how we respond to turkey in the days following Thanksgiving, and how we exercise our habit of thanksgiving. The fact is that we really are thankful on Thanksgiving. It’s a challenge to not be thankful when you surround yourself with family and friends and sit in warm houses, eating delicious food. Although we may not give a verbal thanksgiving, we truly show gratitude to God on Thanksgiving Day.

But, like our turkey leftovers, our gratitude to God wanes in the days following Thanksgiving. Like a neglected New Year’s resolution, our thankfulness soon dissolves into nothing. And just as we can only remember those delicious turkey leftovers, unfortunately, our gratitude becomes a mere memory to the Father.

I would like to say two things about our problem with thanksgiving. First, God wants something He has referred to in the Bible as “first fruits.” In the KJV, Proverbs 3:9 reads, “Honour the Lord with they substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase.” In the Old Testament, there was a law from God, specifying that the children of Israel give the very first of what they produced in the fields (Lev. 23:9-14). It was a sacrifice that symbolized to God the Hebrew’s desire to please Him. Today is no different. God doesn’t want leftovers, but rather our first fruits. Before we thank our parents and friends, we should remember to thank God.

Second, we should develop the habit of giving thanks, unceasingly. Paul told the Ephesians that he did not cease giving thanks for them, while mentioning them in his prayers (Eph. 1:16). Because of what we know of Paul’s character, we can be fairly confident that this carried over into other areas of Paul’s gratitude. He was continually thankful for all of his blessings. It’s a challenge to be thankful every day of the year. When we wake up we’re plagued with distractions: hunger, last-minute homework, etc. But God wants to be remembered. Nothing means more to another than a full heart of gratitude.

-BK