Articles/Bulletins
30 Days Doesn't End Here
Today is day number twenty-four of our “30 Days of Thanksgiving.” For twenty-four days we have been reading a Bible verse a day and listing one thing we are thankful for. Each Sunday and Wednesday night, we have looked at the “verse of the day” and made some practical applications about our attitude of gratitude.
Some of you have told me that you’ve shared this with friends, family members, and coworkers. I want to applaud you for your dedication during the past few weeks to stay focused on all the great and wonderful things God has blessed us with. However, I would like to make one thing clear: just because the thirty days is almost over, doesn’t mean we get to stop being thankful.
Paul tells us to give thanks in everything (1 Thess. 5:18). I have been encouraged by the amount of people who have decided to be thankful during the month of November, but if this is the only time in our lives that we choose to be thankful, we are leaving out a majority of the year. What about the other eleven months?
I urge you to continue to read a scripture a day and thank God for something in your life. I urge you to keep your list in your Bible and look back over it every once in awhile. I hope we never forget how truly blessed we are in this country and in this world. I hope we never forget how grateful we need to be to the One who gave us everything we have (James 1:17). As you sit around your dinner table this Thursday and you are surrounded by friends and family members, remember to thank God for each and every person He’s put in your life. When your stomach is ready to pop because of the big meal you will have, make sure to remember that there are people who don’t have as much as you. When you take the nap after eating all that turkey, thank God for the warm bed you get to sleep in every night.
This is not to make us feel guilty for having “things,” but instead to make us grateful. God deserves more than thirty days of thanksgiving. He deserves to be praised every day. David wrote, “I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips” (Psalm 34:1). May God’s praise always be on our lips. I hope that through these last few weeks we have grown to appreciate the good and bad in our lives. I hope that we have grown spiritually and emotionally.
Brooke and I recently lost a fellow alumni, Adam Smelser. He was 25 years old. His dad wrote these words in the time of his mourning: “His CHIEF goal was seeking the kingdom of God, and his righteousness. Rejoice in that for him. I thank God for Adam, and want to be more like him.” Be thankful for all that you have. You never know when it will be torn away.
~ Kevin
- Bulletin 11-24-13.pdf.zip (2.28 MB)
