Thankfulness

What are you thankful for?
The Bible talks a lot about being thankful. Psalm 100 and Psalm 107 are just two different chapters in the Bible about thankfulness. There are several more.
A lot of times when I ask ‘what are you thankful for?’ I get the standard answer of ‘I don’t know’.
In our culture, we are bombarded by commercials, billboards, movies, etc. telling us that we need more stuff to be happy when in reality, we need the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is the only one who can fill that void in our hearts. No amount of “stuff” will fill it.
What a radical change there could be if everyone in America would just stop chasing after more stuff, and be thankful for what they have.
The United States of America has truly been blessed by the Lord. We have one thing that virtually no other country has, but greatly desires. That one thing is called Freedom.
Our nation has way more than the average person in most if not all the other countries. Yet we are always looking for more.
Why is that?
The answer is pretty simple really. It’s lack of contentment. Our nation is very ungrateful. Most Americans do not stop and thank God for what He has given them.
I know I haven’t always been thankful, but you know, when we are thankful for what God has given us (whether it be our toothbrush or our car); our whole outlook on life drastically changes. Instead of chasing after more stuff; you find yourself chasing after what really matters, and that’s God Almighty.
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” –Matthew 6:19-21
Nothing here on earth is going to last. It will all vanish away, but everything that’s laid up in Heaven (the things that have true value) will never vanish away.
God didn’t have to give us anything. He doesn’t owe us one thing. The truth of the matter is that we owe Him everything.
So why did He give us these things?
Because He loves us! It’s written throughout the entire Bible. It started way back in the beginning when God created man and woman in His own image. (Genesis 1:27)
They sinned against God, but because He loved them; He didn’t kill them where they stood. God clothed them and sent them out of the garden. But He was still with them. He watched over them to the day they died.
The greatest show of love was when He sent His only begotten Son to pay the penalty for our sins. (John 3:16-17) Jesus was born of a virgin, lived a perfect life, willing died on the cross for our sins, and rose from the grave three days later defeating sin and death.
I’d say that’s something to be thankful about!
The last point that I want to bring up is that thankfulness (the act of being thankful) is a choice.
You have the God-given ability to choose whether you are going to be thankful for what you have, or ungrateful and wanting what you don’t have.
It’s a choice we all have to make. Being thankful is not a choice we make once then forget about it; it’s one we must make everyday of our lives.
So what do you choose?