Has it ever occurred to you that being thankful is a privilege?
Because of our relationship with Jesus… We can (and should be )thankful.
Our thankfulness is an opportunity to show God we genuinely recognize His gifts, mercy, forgiveness, and eternal relationship with us! I’m convinced that we would be most miserable if we weren’t afforded the privilege of thankfulness toward God.
It’s almost effortless to be thankful when we recognize all God has done for us. It’s even easy to be thankful for the people God has allowed us to have relationships with, whether through blood or friendship. Those opportunities for thankfulness and gratitude come naturally to us.
But what about people we’ve never really met? How can we be God’s ambassadors of thankfulness to them? And do we even need to do so?
I’ve been considering 2 Corinthians 9:11 lately.
“You will be enriched in everything for all liberality, which through us is producing thanksgiving to God. For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints, but is also overflowing through many thanksgivings to God.”
While I certainly want my interactions with other believers to draw them into a posture of thanksgiving, even more so, I want my “liberality” to cause those who don’t know Christ to overflow with thanksgiving to Him.
I try to serve others as the Lord brings them to mind. However, in this season of thankfulness, I’ve been trying to learn how to show thankfulness for others as a way to draw them into thankfulness to God.
Let me explain. All day, every day, I’m surrounded by lost people with hurting hearts. Many of them feel alone and forgotten. They don’t feel as though their lives matter to anyone. Too often, they believe that somehow God made a mistake when He made them. This is often true of the homeless people we pass each day, not to mention co-workers, estranged family, etc.
What an opportunity we have as believers to verbalize this truth… God loves them and longs to be in a relationship with them! November is a season of thankfulness, and what better way to show God’s love than by stopping to tell another person just how thankful you are for their life because every life is precious to God?
If we accompany our words with a simple gift, such as a bottle of water or a pair of socks to help stave off the cold, our actions will back up our words. You could even include a simple tract. Those words of thankfulness and encouragement could be just the injection of courage that an unsaved person needs not to give up.
Sometimes, we all need the reminder that we are precious to God. (Psalm 139:13–16) I’m so thankful for the people who take the time to remind me of that truth. We all have the opportunity to be those people! Aren’t you glad that we have the privilege to share God’s truth with others?
May I encourage you to pray for “eyes to see and ears to hear” and for the courage to speak so that you’ll be ready to express to others who need to hear that you’re thankful for them because they’re special to your God!
Megan Scheibner 