The 12th Man

Well, you’ll be happy to know that I braved the elements (Haha!  A little bit of light rain!) and made a special trip to the store and purchased not one but two boxes of Safeway’s Bite Sized Shredded Wheat.  Now I know that you’re all wondering why it has to be Safeway’s brand of Shredded wheat…  So, I’ll let you in on a little secret.  The Safeway cereal is courser than the name brand versions of bite size shredded wheat.  Therefore, since my wife takes so long to eat her meals, this brand does not turn into mush like the others do!  Remember that 2 Timothy 1:7 says that God gives us a spirit of “good judgment.”  (Gods Word ©)  I guess that His “good judgment” also helps one to decide on the best cereal to eat as well!

I just can’t seem to get my thoughts off the subject of giving thanks.  It seems like everything I read lately connects me with that subject!  Today as I glanced at the open Bible on my desk, I focused in on 2 Timothy 2:1 where it says, “My child, find your source of strength in the kindness (or grace) of Christ Jesus.”  (Gods Word © - parenthesis mine)  The challenge “to find your source of strength” drew me right back to the events in Jonah chapter two that I barely touched on yesterday.

Here we find a scared Jonah who after freaking out and running from the command of God finds himself in the belly of a giant fish.  If anyone needed to quickly discover their source of strength it was him!  So what did he do?  Jonah 2:1 implies that he must have come to his senses since he “prayed to the Lord his God.”  (Gods Word ©)  After his request for mercy and deliverance His faith boomed as he called his immediate surroundings ”lying vanities.” (KJV) Then “in the believing anticipation (or EXPECATION) of sure deliverance, he offers thanksgivings...”  (Jamison, Fausset and Brown Commentary of Jonah 2:9 – parenthesis mine).  The last verse of the chapter records his intended results saying “Then the Lord spoke to the fish, and it spit Jonah out onto the shore.” (Jonah 2:10 Gods Word ©)

Sometimes the situations in our lives cause us to have to look for our source of strength.  It would seem that one of the many attributes of giving thanks unto God is to assist us in our search.  The giving of thanks acts as a channel that causes us to direct our attention to our God.  It works to put the ball back into His field.  You could say that it gives us the home field advantage. It is kind of like having the “12^th man” playing on your team!  Most football teams will tell you of the advantage the 12^th man or the input that the home team fans have on the outcome of a game.  (See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12th_man_(football) for more background on this term)

Being on your own playing field gives you the upper hand in any situation.  The giving of thanks helps in the transition between where you are to where you need to be, in order to have command and then victory over the rough plays in your life.  You know what… the giving of thanks also makes you feel good, but more on that tomorrow!  Say what do you know?  Today is Wednesday and we’ve already made it halfway through the week!  Have a great day, find your strength in Him and keep asking yourself… “What am I expecting today?”