Putting the “go” in gobble, gobble

Psalm 105

1 Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name;

make known among the nations what he has done.

2 Sing to him, sing praise to him;

tell of all his wonderful acts.

3 Glory in his holy name;

let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.

4 Look to the Lord and his strength;

seek his face always.

What a great time of year!

For most of us, Thanksgiving is the official launch to the holiday season. We are looking forward to a day of doing nothing, watching football and eating more food than should probably be consumed in an entire week

I am right there with you.

I’m just going to have to hope that the other campus pastors who I am competing against in our year-end weight loss competition will be just as frail, and undisciplined as me (I can dream can’t I?)

But on this wonderful holiday called Thanksgiving I wonder if we really are expressing our thankfulness as we should…

I know if we were asked, we could come up with a long list of things that we are thankful for, and might even get a little teary-eyed over. We are thankful for our family, our freedoms and so many of the ways we are obviously blessed

But, how are we expressing it?

When you look at the holiday itself it appears to be all about self-indulgence and celebrating our Thanksgiving by piling more blessing upon the blessing we’ve already received.

It is really fun, I have to admit, but is it really Thanksgiving? It sounds a whole lot more like Thankstaking.

Don’t get me wrong, I am all about celebrating the good things that God has provided for us. However, if we have a holiday that is all about Thanks-giving, then shouldn’t we try a little bit of that?

According to the passage from above Psalm 105 Thanksgiving is a lot more about doing than receiving; more about giving that getting. In those four short verses it describes giving thanks with words like call, make known, saying, tell, and seek.

Maybe I’m a little off but this seems quite different from sit, watch and eat.

Thanksgiving should be a holiday that puts the “go” in gobble, gobble!

Again, don’t let me steal from you one of the most fantastic days off in our culture. Let me add to the experience by challenging you to express thankfulness in a way that is less about Thankstaking and more about Thanksgiving.

As an individual or as a family I pray that you would try one of these following things, or come up with your own. And may this be one of the best Thanksgivings you ever gave:

• Add to your family – make it a family project to express thankfulness for all our blessings by adopting a child through compassion international (www.compassion.org)
• Give Faith Feet – Rake leaves, wash a car,  mend a fence… do whatever you can do for someone who cannot
• Speak it – Dedicate your Facebook Status and Twitter updates to statements of thankfulness (no whining)
• Donate – Your abundance can become the necessity of others. The local food bank, Salvation Army, United Way, or better yet your church can put those funds to good use. Some call it a Benevolence fund, but I like calling it “The Grocery Getting, Diaper Buying, Bill Paying, Gas Pumping, Make A Real Difference Fund.” GIVE IT AWAY!
• Serve – Find a place to serve in your church. Stand at a door to hand bulletins and be the first happy face to see, help park cars, care for the next generation in the nursery. Get in the game.
• Change It Up – At your Thanksgiving gathering this year, turn off the TV and have everyone share what they are most thankful for and then spend time in meaningful prayer as a family.

It really doesn’t matter what you do, so long as you do something. Turn your Thankstaking into a real Thanksgiving.