Hey folks let’s play a game that most of us use to play when we were children called "Simon Says". OK, ready? Stand straight for the next 12 hours without a break. After that one try this - stay up for two days straight without any sleep. And then after that one try this - take a deep breath and don’t breathe again for the next 30 minutes. Please don’t try that one.

By now you are probably thinking no one can do any of those, you are not playing fair. Well, OK ... let’s try one more that is more possible than those three but I’ll bet would be more difficult than those three for too many reasons. Try this - Simon Says give thanks in all circumstances. WHAT?!!! How do we give thanks in all circumstances? Simon lost his mind when he asked that of us. Well, we probably never really listened to Simon that much anyway.

How about this? Jesus says, "give thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus". Now, this puts a different spin on the issue. We could ignore Simon but now Jesus says the same thing. Just in case you don’t know this direction from the Lord’s counsel is I Thessalonians 5:18. What is basically so difficult for us in this mater is how much we have "watered down" what giving thanks is all about. Giving thanks is far from just creating a list of things we should tell our Heavenly Father we are thankful for that we wanted, liked, enjoyed, could use, etc... Instead giving thanks is about a way of seeing life and recognizing that without Christ the roads we travel will be less than what was possible with Christ. In conclusion,, just consider the following: how many persons have you met that were discouraged who lived in a constant attitude of thanksgiving to God for his grace, provision, safety, plan and purpose for their life? I’ve never met anyone like that. Thanksgiving has a way to lift us out of the pit of our situation and keeps us focused on who we are in Christ and where he is leading us. 

Happy Thanksgiving!!