Living in Thanksgiving — Facing the Truth About Our Gratitude

Reverend Leo H. McCrary II

While there is much depravity in this season, an opportunity has been presented for us to live with much thanksgiving.

Introduction

As we enter into this “Thanksgiving season,” I wonder whether or not we, mankind, are truly grateful for the Lord, because if we were, then we would live in thanksgiving to God.  Do you think that we are collectively living in thanksgiving to God?  Mankind must address its struggle to appreciate God so that we can truly live in thanksgiving to each other in a season where it is desperately needed.

Thanksgiving to God

Living in thanksgiving to God means that one lives in a manner that gives honor and appreciates God for all He has done by reflecting His mercy, grace, and salvation.  Such thanksgiving begins with one faithfully observing what God has commanded.

You may wonder, ‘What has God commanded of us?’  In Matthew 22:37-39, you will see that Christ commanded that we are to love God wholeheartedly.  You will also see that Christ commanded that we are to love our neighbor.  What this means is that we are to help, support, assist, uplift, and pray for all of those who are around us.

Can one who fails to observe what God has commanded them say that they honor and appreciate Him?  Absolutely not.  If we don’t put forth the effort to faithfully observe what God commands, we can’t say that we are living in thanksgiving to Him.

Why One Struggles and Fails to Live in Thanksgiving to God

So, how and why does one fail to observe what God has commanded?  Why does one struggle to live in thanksgiving to God?  

Let us pay close attention to Isaiah 29, where we see God, through Isaiah, rebuke Ariel, the city that David once dwelt in (Is. 29:1).  If you’re not familiar with the city that David dwelt in, he dwelt in Jerusalem.  In this prophecy, we will see where the Lord said that He would encamp against Jerusalem and lay siege against it (Is. 29:3).  

Now, for some, this won’t sound right.  Why?  Because Jerusalem is the ‘holy city’ and those who dwelt in it are God’s chosen people.  We’d think to ourselves, God is supposed to be with and for His people, not against them.

In Isaiah 29:9-10, it is shown to us why God had said that He would encamp against and lay siege against Jerusalem.  The Lord rebuked the people for having become drunk and staggered, but not with wine and intoxicating drink.  The Lord rebuked the deep because they were in a deep sleep in their soul.  

The deep sleep had been poured onto them by the Lord because the people had rejected God’s law.  Not only had they rejected God’s law, but they also rejected the prophets.  God would repeatedly send His messengers to the people, calling on them to turn from their wicked ways, but they would not heed their voices.  Therefore, because they refused the prophets, they had refused God.

So, God said that He would encamp against them because the vision had become to them like words in a sealed book (Is. 29:11).  The people refused the promise of the covenant that their forefathers had made at Mount Sinai.  Through obedience, the children of Israel were meant to become a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.  They were meant to be representatives of God who would serve the world and set the example for others to follow.

You see, the actions of the people had made one thing clear about their hearts.  The Lord said that they would draw near to Him with their mouths and honor Him with their lips, but their hearts were far from Him (Is. 29:13).  The people would come to the Lord with their offerings, but their worship was insincere!  In other words, they had religion, but lacked faith–God desires sincere faith!

In the first of my key verses, the Lord rebuked, saying, “Woe to those who seek deep to hide their counsel far from the Lord, And their works are in the dark; They say, “Who sees us?” and, “Who knows us?”

For one to think they can hide their counsel and their works from God is for one to disregard His sovereignty!  For one to suggest that the Lord can’t see them or doesn’t know Him, is to disregard that He is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent–God is Almighty.  Just to be clear, God would encamp against Jerusalem because they were disregarding His sovereignty!

Moreover, in the second of my key verses, we will see that God rebuked those of Jerusalem for having things turned around.  The Lord asked, “Shall the potter be esteemed as the clay;  For shall the thing made say of him who made it, ‘He did not make me’ “?  God asked, “Shall the thing formed say of him who formed it, ‘He has no understanding’ “?

I want you to consider everything that the Lord has said in this rebuke!  After seeing all that He said, it ought not be a surprise that God would encamp against such!  The people thought that they were not only on an equal level with God, but they also thought that they knew better.  

Those of the southern kingdom had become like their brothers in the northern kingdom; they had become prideful and arrogant fools.  Because of their pride and arrogance, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, which is a heart (or spirit) that is vile, debased, and corrupted by sin.

This prophecy began to be fulfilled when Nebuchadnezzar and his army knocked on the doors of Jerusalem, conquering and laying waste to the city and the temple.  Throughout its history, Jerusalem has repeatedly been conquered and repeatedly had its walls and city rebuilt.  

To this day, the prophecy of Isaiah 29 is being fulfilled.  Yes, even when one touts a peace deal, God is still encamped against it.  Even when one touts their being a cease-fire, God is still ecamped against it.

So, let us understand that one struggles to observe what God has commanded because of pride, arrogance, and being asleep in their soul.  Such pride and arrogance lead to one rejecting God, and with their heart far from Him, they fail to live in thanksgiving to Him.

Warning to Today’s Ungrateful Heart

I reference this scripture today because this scripture paints a picture of a world that we see today.  This scripture also serves as a warning for how God moves, works, and responds to those who are ungrateful and choose to disregard Him.

Today, many are too prideful and arrogant to acknowledge the Lord.  Many are so prideful and arrogant today that they reject God’s wisdom for their own wisdom.

We watch all over the world where governing authorities the ordinance that God has established for them.  Daniel said that it is God who establishes and changes the times and seasons; it is God who moves and raises kings (Dan. 2:20-21).  God has ordained governing authorities to rule in the same manner that He rules in as the sovereign ruler over His creation.  

However, rather than ruling with grace, governing authorities often choose to be cruel and selfish.  In this land, we continue to see where people’s lives are being put at great risk by governing authorities!  They play games by withholding food, cutting aid, and taking away work while building a palace for a king.  They pit those who have very little against those who have none, rather than help and support.

God helps us, doesn’t He?  The Lord He supports us, doesn’t He?  God brings us through our trials and tribulations?  I am never concerned about whether or not God loves and cares for me because He has repeatedly shown me that He does.

Then, there are so-called Christians who, like the governing authorities, are choosing to reject their call and their ordinance.  God calls on believers to fulfill their calling by teaching others to observe what He has commanded us to observe.  Yet, the so-called Christian moves wickedly, rejecting God’s wisdom and way for their own.

We have seen that God responds to such pride and arrogance by turning the fool over to a reprobate mind.  As Paul said, “As they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased (reprobate) mind, to do those things which are not fitting (Rom. 1:28).”

Our land is suffering today because of the reprobate mind.  The vile and the immoral, those who choose to reject God’s command to love, are causing much hurt today.

Does this mean that the Lord is encamped against us, those who love Him?  Absolutely not!  God does not encamp against those He love, but is with those who are of a contrite and humble spirit.  Those who put forth the effort of living in thanksgiving, God loves and He is with.

However, is God encamped against those who don’t put forth the effort of thanksgiving?  Absolutely.  God has promised that sin and the sinner will fall and be cast from His presence into outer darkness.  As Proverbs 16:18 tells us, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”

God is calling for us to return to Him in this season.  God said, “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land (2 Chr. 7:14).”

How to Live in Thanksgiving

While there is much strife in this season, a great opportunity presented to us to live with great thanksgiving.  Will we choose to be grateful, and to be a blessing to those who are around us? Or will we continue to choose to be selfish and ungrateful?

The first step – Remembering our place

For us to live in true thanksgiving in this season, let us keep in mind God’s rebuke against Jerusalem’s disobedience.  Let us keep in mind that the Lord said they had things turned around, seeing themselves being equal or greater than Him.

The Lord asked, “Shall the potter be esteemed as the clay?”  God is the potter and we are the clay, not the other way around.  Let’s be clear that in no world would the clay ever be esteemed as the potter.  The potter is the one who takes the clay and shapes it and molds it, forming the clay into the vessel he or she desires.  

We did not create God–we aren’t His ruler.  God has no equal!  God does not need us; we need Him, especially in times like these!  Therefore, you and I must remember our place in this, God’s creation.  If we are to live in true thanksgiving, we must humble ourselves in total dependence on God and His wisdom.

In Isaiah 29:9, the prophecy tells us that the humble will increase their joy and the poor will also rejoice.  Let us humble ourselves so that we our joy may increase in this season of thanksgiving!  

Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 5:3).”  Jesus also said, “Blessed are the meek (the lowly) for they shall inherit the earth.”  

In this season of thanksgiving, I am calling on us to live in true thanksgiving!  We will take the first step in that effort by putting away from us the foolish pride and arrogance that is creating much sorrow in this land!

The second step – Remember what we have been molded for

The second step we must take this season to live in true thanksgiving is to remember what we have been molded for by God.

If we desire to understand what we have been shaped and molded for, we should first consider that God made mankind in His image, according to His likeness.  The reason why God made us in His image and according to His likeness is so that we would be like Him.  

As He proclaimed when He passed before Moses, God is merciful, gracious, and just for generations upon generations upon generations.  We know that God is both merciful and gracious because He gave the world His only begotten Son.  Moreover, we know that the Lord is just because He constantly cleanses us from all unrighteousness when we confess our sins to Him (1 John 1:9).

So, because the Lord has molded us to be just like Him, we ought to be like Him.  This, again, is a call for us to be merciful, gracious, and just.  How can one be like God if they choose to turn away from His instructions?  How can one say they honor and appreciate the Lord when they aren’t moving to fulfill their purpose? 

Third step – Be faithful to God’s word

Does the Lord call for us to contend with Him?  That is to ask if God calls for us to strive against Him?

When Paul was persecuting the church, Christ revealed Himself to him.  Christ warned Paul against kicking against the goads (a sharp object).  You see, Paul was moving against God’s will at the time of his conversion and Christ rebuked him (Acts 9:3-6).

Today, many are kicking at the goads, moving against God’s will because the vision is like a sealed book to them.  Many are refusing and rejecting the promise of salvation, believing they can do better.  Many are refusing the promise of God’s salvation by thinking they are doing right by doing things their way, rather than by God’s way.

Let’s not mince any words about this:  There is no blessing going against God’s will.  To be clear, there is no blessing in despising your neighbor, the command of God.  Working against God is a work that will lead to much sorrow, rather than joy.  We are living in a seaon when thanksgiving is desperately needed and the only way for it to truly be given is by being faithful to God’s word.  

In such a season like now, we must love and support each other any way that we can!  When governing authorities are refusing to heed their ordinance, we must remain faithful to our calling.

Band Together This Season

Give to a charity if you can do so today.  Give to a food bank if you have the ability to give.  Motivate and encourage–uplift souls with a positive word today!  Turn away from the bitterness and hatred of this day and open your heart to love everyone.  Be thankful for what God has given you by being a blessing to somebody, somewhere.

Let us band together in a service of thanksgiving to God and each other this season by being genuine in our love and care for each other.  Let us look out for each other, help each other, lend a hand, and care for each other.  

The Christian who learns to truly love in this manner is the Christian who can truly say that they appreciate God.  You see, they will have learned to appreciate all of mankind just as the Lord loves the world.