“Enter into his
gates with thanksgiving,
and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him,
and bless his name.” (KJV)
One of the obvious things that comes to my mind as I have
been studying this Psalm is that it is all about the yielding of our full
attention to God. It is all about giving
and not getting… and carries the
implication that it is an enjoyable undertaking!
As I pondered this in line with today’s celebration of
Thanksgiving, I was drawn back to one of my favorite memories of family
Thanksgivings when I was a child. The
vivid sights, sounds and smells of that special time in my Grandparents little
home filled my thoughts. I can still see
the steamy windows, smell the turkey roasting in the oven, and almost feel the
excitement that filled the home. But
most of all, it was my Grandmother’s smiling face as she puttered around her place
of heaven on earth, that was her kitchen!
Then there was my Grandpa’s laugh and his encouraging words,
and the merriment and chatter that freely flowed between all the cousins. At that time it seemed like we had entered an
enchanted world. When you were there it
was liked being saturated with happiness and the warmth of unconditional love
that only our Grandparents could heap upon us!
To me, that is how it must also be in the presence of our
loving heavenly Father! That is why we
can’t help but enter into His gates with hearts and lips filled with a song of
thanksgiving, praise and blessing. In
His house there is life that flows abundantly!
In my thoughts this morning I also dwelt on that first New
England Thanksgiving that was held in 1621.
In reality, that first Thanksgiving was a celebration of life. As survivors of that terrible first winter,
the Pilgrims were thankful for the past and hopeful for their future. And even though they celebrated with the
Indians who had helped them and with their family and friends who were left
among the living, their focus was clearly on their God who had faithfully seen
them though!
These individuals were survivors. They had chosen life and had made it
successfully through their first rough challenges in the new world. Their
decision for life and their experience of that first dreadful winter was but
fuel for the fire that burned within them.
They knew that with God, they could do anything! (See: Philippians 4:13)
In Deuteronomy 30:19 Moses told the people, “that I have set before you life and death,
blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may
live.” (KJV) He told them that they
had to make a decision, and then he gave them a helpful hint as to which way to
choose!
As you celebrate this day of Thanksgiving, I would encourage
you to decide for yourself which way you will choose this coming year. When you choose life, you choose to enter
into God’s presence… into the place where
He abides. It’s a place that I am
sure is just like my Grandparent’s old home that was filled with unconditional
love, where you felt safe and special and came away from feeling like you could
accomplish anything! Have a wonderful
Thanksgiving! Stay in tune to His Word,
and keep asking yourself… “What am I
expecting today?”
PS: Don't Forget... On Monday we start our 2013 Advent Calendar!
PS: Don't Forget... On Monday we start our 2013 Advent Calendar!
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