Now that you’ve given thanks …

On Thanksgiving Day, there are often two types of people who sit down at the table upon which a veritable feast is spread.

There’s the person who has, for days prior to the holiday, been playing over and over in their minds the many things they have to be grateful for, and they know a single day or moment in time to “give thanks” is vastly insufficient.

The other person is one who may know he or she has plenty to be thankful for but often overlook that truth, so they feel a sense of duty to “give thanks” on the holiday set aside for doing just that.

Regardless how you might approach, and observe, Thanksgiving Day, there are a few things you should consider now that you’ve given thanks:

1. Stay grateful. Scripture does more than instruct us to “give thanks,” it teaches us that we should be people who are thankful.

Why?

Because the truth is, we are forever dependent upon God. An unidentified writer expounded on this idea of “forever dependent” as follows:

There is perhaps no greater picture of total dependence than that of an infant rooting for its mother’s milk. The toddler may insist on holding a cup of milk by himself, but he is just as dependent on his parents to provide it. And the dairy farmer, who owns the cows that produce the milk, is just as dependent on his Creator to provide the straw needed to feed his cows.

At some point in our growth and development, most of us begin to think that we have arrived at a point of independence. We make the mistake of thinking that by taking on more responsibility, we have become independent.

But we never have, nor will we ever, create our own necessary food, or the universe in which it is cultivated, or the people who grow it, or the teeth that crush it, or the saliva that begins to break it down, or the stomach that digests it, or the biological system that delivers it to the individual cells of the body.

At the height of our abilities, we only ever play a minuscule role in providing for ourselves. But that doesn’t stop us from looking at our successes and thinking, “I’ve got this.”

The truth of the matter is that we don’t have this, but God does have us. Let a stroke take that tiny part of our independence away and we very quickly come to the realization of just how totally dependent on God we really are.

The point is, God has a purpose, not just for the provisions He provides, but even for the trials that seem to set us back. Blind and arrogant as we are to our total dependence on God, we often need His help to see the truth. Sometimes that help comes in the form of helplessness.

“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me,” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

Be a grateful person.

2. Continue expressing your gratitude. Don’t wait for the next Thanksgiving Day to roll around, make the giving of thanks a daily habit.

With everyone!

The next time someone says, “Oh, you don’t need to thank me,” respond with “Yes I do!” We always need to say thank you, from someone expressing the smallest courtesy, to the most profound, life-altering things God does in our lives, be persistent in giving thanks.

You cannot be a grateful person without a consistent, and persistent, practice of saying, “Thank you!”

And here’s the wonderful “catch” to that: persistently expressing gratitude will deepen your humility while increasing your joy.

“Yes, the Lord has done amazing things for us! What joy!” Psalm 126:3.

So keep expressing your gratitude.

3. Let your life demonstrate the fruit of being a grateful person. When you go beyond occasionally grunting “Thanks” to someone, to becoming a person who is grateful, such a life yields fruit. Grateful people are usually more content with what they have, experience a more sincere humility, are less anxious and more at peace regardless of their circumstances, and value others more fully. Being a grateful person changes you, because persistent gratitude will reap a harvest, for whatever you sow (like gratitude) is what you will reap from.

Scotty