by Bob Wilkin

Yesterday I heard a good sermon by Luis Rodriguez. Speaking from Psalm 100 he said that we should be thankful people.

All. The. Time.

We should thank the Lord for everything, for our food, our housing, our jobs, our health, our families, and so forth.

Luis is right, of course. As children of God we are called to be thankful.

But Luis pointed out as well that it is hard to be thankful. We need to learn to be thankful people. And it starts by being thankful for seemingly small stuff.

A meal is not really a big deal since we have two or three every day. But we have the Lord’s example that we should give thanks for our daily bread. Giving thanks for our food is a good start.

At 64 I’m very fortunate to be able to do racewalking. On Saturday I race-walked 8 miles in 1:47, a fairly good time. I am thankful for that. I’m building up my long walk, hoping to do the Fort Worth Cowtown Marathon at the end of February.

I think most of my thanks is more attitudinal than it is directed prayer. That is, I find that I am thankful, but like Luis was saying, I often don’t take the time to stop and actually thank the Lord. Often I’m like one of the nine healed lepers who did not come back to thank the Lord. They were probably very thankful. But they did not give thanks to the One who healed them.

Maybe that is true of you as well.

If so, we can begin small and thank God for the small stuff. We can thank Him in our morning prayers and in our prayers before we go to bed. We can thank Him at breakfast, lunch, and supper. If we get into the habit of thanking God, we will surely become more intentional in our thanksgiving.

It is a good thing that we live in a country that has a holiday called Thanksgiving. This holiday in itself can serve to remind us of the importance of giving thanks.

As a result of Luis’s sermon I made out a list of things I’m especially thankful for: my wife of forty years, Sharon, the gift of everlasting life, the training I received at Dallas Theological Seminary, being mentored by Zane Hodges, pastoring Lake City Bible Fellowship, teaching at Woodcrest College and Multnomah Bible College, the birth and growth of Grace Evangelical Society for thirty year, being able to travel and speak for the Lord these past thirty years, for the many people who support and have supported GES over the years, for the wonderful staff I have and have had, for the great Board I have and the great Boards I’ve had, for the good health that God has given to me and to Sharon, etc.

I never thought when I entered seminary that I would be doing anything nearly as important and exciting as what I’ve been privileged to do for these past three decades. I longed to teach at Bible colleges or seminaries. Now I realize that I’m more effective working at GES than I would have been teaching all these years in some school.

Thank you, Lord, for the many ways you have blessed me. Please make me more thankful.

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