Constant

"The Christian who walks with the Lord and keeps constant communion with Him will see many reasons for rejoicing and thanksgiving all day long."
[Warren Wiersbe]


First of all, Happy Thanksgiving! The rest of this post, however, might sound very contradictory to my first sentence! I found the above quote this morning and it pierced my heart.  Although I understand the roots of Thanksgiving Day, Thanksgiving should be every moment of every day.  Holidays are once-a-year, special occasions that we celebrate and relish because they are not that frequent.  And as we all know, Thanksgiving Day has been dubbed a once-a-year holiday. Does this sound right to you?


I have SO much to be thankful for, way more than I could ever list off in 24 hours straight. Our expressions of thanksgiving to God should not be an afterthought. Don't you think He gets a little tired of hearing our complaints and whining all day long? Well, maybe He doesn't because He relishes every moment His creation speaks and communes with Him, but He created the heavens and earth to give Him praise and glory and that is exactly what they are doing...but are we as humans, people made in God's image, doing that? Creation is constantly groaning and proclaiming His glory, an eternal act of thankfulness. We cannot even take a moment out of our day to thank Him for the breath that He just graced us with. 


As I read the quote, I was convicted of how little I actually thank God. It's not that I don't have anything to be thankful for...it's just the opposite.  I have too much and I don't know where to start! I am overwhelmed at the things God has done through me and for me. I think of my petty fears and anxieties and then realize that God loves me so much and knows me so well that He watches over me and protects me. 


For example, I have a phobia of food poisoning (you may be wondering, "and who doesn't?" but I have a phobia of it...not just a deep fear). I don't eat certain foods because they can easily be contaminated or undercooked (I won't eat meat with pink in it, I always smell the milk no matter what the expiration date is, etc). On Monday, before going back home, I was in the caf contemplating whether or not I should make stir-fry.  I immediately walked away from the stir-fry line, not really knowing why, but having a strong urge not to eat it. I thought it was just because I had been eating it for so long that I was sick of it. About 2 hours later, my friend told me that a lot of people had been getting food poisoning from the stir-fry vegetables and the sauces that were sitting out. As trivial as it sounds, God really watches over me. He knows my fears and His grace is sufficient. He is more than enough. That experience prompted me to look for God's grace in every moment and I clearly see God's hand in my life. He has saved me from SO many embarrassing moments that I would have brought upon myself, yet He cares so much and reigns me in...probably chuckling at my stupidity! He saves me from myself!


If being thankful is hard for you, or if you don't ever think about it because you are so busy, then a re-evalution of who you are living for must take place. If you truly believe and experience the mercy of Christ, you would be overflowing with thankfulness. I am speaking to myself as well. It is hard for me to pour out my thankfulness or even find thankfulness in my heart when all I want to do is pour out my self pity and sorrows. When we choose to thank God instead of complain to Him, He blesses that and even gives us the words to speak to Him, all we have to do is believe what we are proclaiming to Him. I find that in order to be thankful, I need to die to myself. I heard a speaker in chapel say the following words and it has been changing the way I live my life: "The Bible says to die daily...how do you do that in moderation?"


Here is a random thought for you:
For awhile last year, I would not say "Amen" after my prayers.  I would try and be conscious that my life and every breath should be a prayer to God and a testimony to others of His grace and love. Being aware of this fact does impact the way you do things, what you do, what you don't do, and what you say. Knowing that everyday is an offering and prayer to God, I think before I act and read the Bible before I speak. I begin to experience the constant communion with God that He so desires for us...just like what was modeled and intended for us in the Garden of Eden. I challenge you to refrain from saying "Amen" in the sense that when you say it, your prayer and communion with God is limited and has an end point. Let every breath you breathe give glory to God, because He is the Giver and Sustainer of Life. As long as this blink-of-a-life seems on the scale of eternity, live it out as though your time is limited...because it is. You, whether you are aware of it or not, are being judged, watched, evaluated, and thought about constantly by others. Lead others down the straight and narrow by your words and actions. Every life counts and the scary thing is that if we ignore the people God puts in our life and we don't show them God's love, their blood is on our hands. It's time that we take responsibility for our actions, or for what we don't do, and share the gift of salvation that we have been selfishly hiding. Our motivation should be such that we love God so much that we love His people as well and deeply desire them to experience the free gift of real life.