It is good to give thanks to the LORD, And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; 2 To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning, And Your faithfulness every night, 3 On an instrument of ten strings, On the lute, And on the harp, With harmonious sound.
Psalms 92: 1-3. New King James Version
First all, I want to thank all of you my readers for having stuck with me for more than ten years. More than ten years? I can’t believe it but I am also more thankful to God for giving me ideas of what to write above. When I trying to go on my own, my brain goes dead, and I could not even write a coherent sentence. Thank you, Lord. Thanks also to Rey Fortaleza, my good brother-in –law, for giving me the opportunity to exercise my mind and one talent, and not hiding it in the ground. Thanks to those people who thought up the idea of a Thanksgiving Day, October in Canada and November in the USA and the Philippines
A story was told that one day God sent two angels to earth to perform a mission. Each one was given a basket. One angel was given a large basket; his mission was to gather all the thanks and appreciations from the people. After all, God gave all the food, clothing, shelter, and much more, as well as good climate, beautiful flowers, scenery and all that.
The other angel was given a small basket, to gather all the complaints and grumbles from the people of the earth, God figuring that with all the good things he was doing for the people that they would appreciate him. At the end of the day, both angels came back. The angel with the large basket was sad and almost crying because the bottom of the basket was barely covered with thanks. The other angel was equally depressed and crying because he had to haul three large bags full of complaints and grumbles. This means that people don’t thank God enough and are not satisfied with all the good things, especially the gift of eternal life, that God is giving them.
The Lord is our example for being thankful. At the graveside of Lazarus, his friend, he prayed ““Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”.. John 11: 41, 42. The Psalmist King David wrote lots of songs about thanks. In Psalms 22: 26, he said The poor will eat and be full, and all who worship you will be thankful and live in hope.” In Psalms 75: 1,2, Asaph, one of the writers of the book, said, “Our God, we thank you for being so near to us! Everyone celebrates your wonderful deeds. 2You have set a time to judge with fairness”.
For some reason or another, we fail to appreciate or thank people, be they are our parents, friends, wives, husbands, children, grandparents for what they did for us. When we develop the habit of thanking people for even the smallest favors or kindness, we will find that we unconsciously do it without thinking for the bigger ones.
In Luke 17, we find a story
where Jesus really appreciates our thanks. Let me let St. Luke tell you the story himself. 11Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy[a]met him. They stood at a distance 13and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” 14When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed. 15One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan. 17Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.” Like 17: 12-19.NIV
Thanksgiving Day is finished a gone but that does not mean we are going to stop saying thank you, God, thank you mom,
thank you, dad, brother, sister, friends and enemies. Our thanks for the soldiers who fight for our freedom, to the police who keep the streets safe from bad people, to the health people (doctors, nurses, care aides, and others) for helping us to get well and keep well. And for us who came as immigrants to this great country, we say, Thank you Canada. Let it be an ongoing habit. The world will be a better place to live in.
“Thanks be to God for roses rare
For skies of blue, and sunshine fair;
For all the joy that now is mine Thanks be to God, thanks be to God
For all the joy that now is mine,
Thanks be to God.”
“Thank you, Lord, for saving my soul
Thank you, Lord, for making me whole;
Thank you, Lord, for giving to me,
Thy great salvation so rich and free. “Amen
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