Jump Start # 481 

Psalms 30:4 Sing praise to the LORD, you His godly ones, And give thanks to His holy name.

  This week is Thanksgiving. I want to devote our Jump Starts this week to the theme of thankfulness. For our Jump Start readers, there will be no Jump Start on Thursday.

  Give thanks. Often in a group of people we hit the safe topics when listing things we are thankful for, such as: this country, our family, our health. We ought to be thankful for those things, they are huge. Ask someone who doesn’t have those. Thankfulness can be shallow if we are not careful and it can be based on the physical aspect of life too much.

  I have found in the Scriptures three aspects of forgiveness that is important.

  First, it needs to be expressed to the giver. Remember the story of the ten lepers? Only one turned back to Jesus and thanked Him. Were the others NOT thankful? No. I’m sure they were. I don’t think one of them thought, “Bummer, I’m healed. Now I have to go back to work.” No, not at all. They were thankful, but they didn’t express it to Jesus. God wants you to be thankful. We are to sing with thankfulness and our prayers need to be sprinkled with thanksgiving to God. Say it. That is important.

  Second, thankfulness changes a person. They become responsible and appreciative of the gift given to them. They care for what they have and it makes them realize without God they would not have these things. Thankfulness has a way of keeping us humble. The less a person is thankful the more they will be filled with pride. The thankful person realizes how he is gifted by God.

  Third, being thankful opens your eyes to many, many other ways your life has been blessed and you may not have realized it. We start thanking God for people He has put in our lives. We thank God for talent, not just in ourselves, but in others. We thank God for great leadership in the church. We thank God for those who are not afraid to take risks and make Biblical adjustments to help a congregation get stronger and better. Thankfulness has a way of melting envy and jealousy. Instead of wishing you had what others do, you become thankful that they have those talents and that you can benefit from them. A gifted song leader, a talented Bible class teacher, a passionate preacher, a caring shepherd, those with the heart of a servant, those that are dependable and loyal. The thankful heart has a way of seeing those things and realizes what a joy it is to be surrounded with such great people.

  It is interesting how many times thankfulness and singing are connected in the Bible. Thankfulness tends to make one joyful which in turn just naturally wants to be cheerful and singing. Maybe the world doesn’t sing much anymore because it fails to be thankful.

  Here is Roger’s short list of thanks:

1. for a congregation that loves to hear me preach

2. For young people that decide to follow Jesus

3. For older Christians who have stayed on the path

4. For all my deacons who make things work and want to give the best to God

5. For a church that pays me more than I deserve

6. For spiritual friends who allow us to empty our hearts with each other

7. For an incredible group of shepherds who love the Lord more than anything else

8. For the gift of preaching and writing. I’m not really sure how all this came about, but I do see God’s hand in it.

9. For the amazing Bible—fascinating, deep and soul stirring

10. For Jesus—for His love, compassion and forgiveness. I hate to think where I would be without that today.

  How about you? Got a short list? It does good to make one and then to thank God as you read over it.

Roger