Thanksgiving

Psalm 100:1-5, "Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is He who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations."

How quickly we went from a national attitude of thankfulness to a national attitude of materialism. Thanksgiving Day was swiftly followed by Black Friday, with stores opening earlier than ever before and crowds of people waiting for hours outside for the doors to part.

Certainly I hope that the merchants do well during the Christmas shopping season. Surely we all want to have good gifts to give our family members and friends as a symbol of God's greatest Gift to us.

But it is so easy to become too caught up in the spirit of shopping. It is sometimes difficult, but so important, to keep all this in perspective and focus more on the spiritual implications of the Christmas season rather than the material ones.

How easy it is to cross Thanksgiving chores off our list of Things To Do and write in the items that will prepare us for Christmas. But I suggest that we never cross off a thankful heart nor a grateful attitude but live in Thanksgiving mode all year long.

Father, may everyday of the year be a day of Thanksgiving for Your blessings. May we turn our eyes from the material to the spiritual during the Christmas season and all year long as well. Amen.