Thanksgiving

 

Today was not a day to find the obvious to be thankful about.  (Well, make that yesterday, as this will pop up on Thanksgiving Day!)  Work was...work; the company was too cheap to give out turkeys, or even a gift card; Grandson Grayson is down with his second round of Impatago, and looking at a good possiblility of spending  the holiday in (again) the hospital.  A real pity party was starting to break out in my head.  

But I said, just hold on there.

The likelihood of needing a turkey had been somewhat mitigated by the fact that KC didn't have a car to get here; and with my short hours and certain other disasters for both my kids, no one could really afford it.  Why did KC not have a car?  He hit a dog, not a deer, so he was without a car- BUT not hurt.  We had all clambered back to financial solid ground with the Good Lord's help.  And if Grayson was gonna catch something, at least the other kids had not caught it from him.  Laurie doesn't have to come home from work tonight (my tonight, your last night), cook all day, and go back to work Black Friday.  I get to not add 5 pounds I don't need.  We are warm despite the cold and wind, we are fed despite the lack of Meleagris gallopavo, and we have our Salvation.  I finally said to the Lord, "You know, all day long I have been thanking You for Your many blessings, desspite not really feel like it.  If I can't feel like it, maybe You could just make me LOOK like it, and not bring the rest of the world down."

I guess that's what He wanted to hear.  I feel better, I've called all the siblings (except one that will see this post), and I'm ready to be thankful for real now.

This last Sunday, Pastor Denny did a tremendous job on the subject, using the story of the Ten Lepers from Luke 17.  Jesus had been on His way to Jerusalem, to meet His fate at the Cross, when these ten men, outcasts due to leprousy, called out to Him.  He told them to go see the priests- and as they went, they were healed.  One came back to thank Him- a Samaritan, while nine Jews never returned.  But Denny dug a little deeper into these ten men, and found they did everything right:

- They kept their distance, as the Law required.  

-They addressed Him as Master- meaning they recognized Him as God;

-They "lifted up their voices"- hard to do, Denny explained, as their vocal chords were likely affected by the disease;

-They went off to show themselves to the priests as Jesus commanded, without a murmur.

They did everything right, in the eyes of the Law- But the problem is that they had already recognized Him as God.  And yet, they went about their duty to the LAW, making sure that the Ts were crossed and the Is dotted- and forgot all about they had not been healed by the LAW- they had been healed by God.  But the Samaritan, a man not bound by the Law as a Jew would be- HE remembered that GOD had healed Him.  And he came back "praising God with a loud voice; 

Luk 17:16  and he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. "

An act that is reserved for God alone.  Not a mortal teacher, not the Law, but God.

And the one thing Denny didn't mention that I thought about was, The Nine Jews, they were religious, they believed.  But they were tied to the ritual.  Unable to see past it to the Savior before them.  And thus, only slightly better off than the priests that would have Jesus Crucified within the week.  They were healed, but they weren't whole.

My point in relating all this is, DON'T just be mindlessly thankful for all you have to a God you don't know.  See Jesus, past the turkey, the pies, the potatoes.  Don't just be thankful- be thankful to the God who gave you all things.  The Samaritan didn't have to use his loudest voice anymore.  He was no longer at a distance from Jesus, his voice was no longer corrupted by disease.  And yet, he used a LOUD voice. He recognized that the One he was grateful to was GOD.  May we go and do likewise.