Original date written 11/26/09
Thank you is a term that we use very often in our lives. We thank people for gifts, we thank them for their service, we thank them when we get things. But many people think that there are not many things to be thankful for, especially with everything going on in our country. Yet there are some people who seem to be more affected than others. It always makes me cringe when I see people who have so much more than me. They have nicer cars, nicer houses, nicer clothes… It’s easy to look at people like that say “They are so rich, they can buy anything they want”
We can look at others that have more than us and say “rich”. But let’s do some math. America is only about 6% of the world’s population yet we consume around 40% of its resources.
Do you own a car?… Only 8% of the world owns a car. So 92% of the world would see you or me driving around in our cars and think “rich”.
How many of you have access to clean drinking water? Around 1 billion people in the world don’t have clean drinking water. And there are times that we get upset that it’s not in bottles or we have to drink it out of the tap. Those people would look at us and say “rich”.
How many of you will be gorging yourself with so much you food today you well be sick? Close to 800 million people in the world won’t eat today. In fact every couple seconds someone dies of hunger.
You see by simply living in a place where we don’t have to worry about where we get food or water. By living in a place where we don’t have to worry about how we can get from point A to point B we are so “rich.” Everyone reading this has been blessed by God. We have so much to be thankful for.
There is a verse in 1 Timothy that talks about being rich. It’s found in chapter 6 verses 17-19 and it says this.
Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.
Although we may not believe it, this verse is talking to anyone who is reading this. If you own a car you are richer than 92% of the world! If you have access to clean drinking water and food, you are in the top 25% of wealth in the world. 75% of the world’s population would look at you and say rich. And what does this verse say about us people who are rich? It says that we should not be arrogant but to put our hope in God, why? Because God has richly provided us with everything we have. Not only that but when he created the world he created it for our enjoyment!
Everything we have is a gift! And what do you do when you receive a gift? You thank who ever gives it to you! But what if being thankful was a way of life. We should walk around with a constant feeling of thankfulness because everything in this world is a gift to us from God!
Car? Gift. Food? Gift. Shelter and Clothes? Gift. Even that breath you just took is a gift from God who gave you the gift of life.
Happy Thanksgiving
Being Thankful,
Stefan
For His Glory 