Maintaining a Thankfulness Response
By Bob Wilkin
*This is an edited version of a blog from seven years ago.
Paul said, “In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” (1 Thess 5:18).
Am I thankful all the time? Are you? Probably not. But we should be.
I am thankful when I partake of the Lord’s Supper and remember Calvary. I am thankful when I pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” I am thankful when I focus. But sometimes I lose focus.
Do you lose the thankfulness response sometimes?
Sharon likes us to list five or ten things we are thankful for. She asks me to do this not just in late November, but from time to time throughout the year.
Here are eight things I’m thankful for this Thanksgiving time:
- 72 years of good health.
- 52 years of everlasting life, which I know is secure forever.
- 48 years of a wonderful marriage to Sharon.
- 37 years of ministry with Grace Evangelical Society.
- 28 years of being discipled and mentored by Zane Hodges (1980-2008).
- 29 years of ministry at Victor Street Bible Chapel.
- 30 years in our current home.
- 14 years speaking at Upland Bible Church and competing in the World Senior Games (Geezer Olympics). If I make it next year, I get a ring for having competed for fifteen years.
I am so thankful I still can think and write and speak. And I’m thankful for the financial and spiritual support from so many of you for so long.
Seven years ago, in this Thanksgiving blog, I wrote, “I hope I’m still able to write and speak and even compete in racewalking and marathons twenty or thirty years from now if the Lord tarries. But I know all of that is in His hands (Jas 4:13-17). And I’m glad it is.” Well, it has been seven years since I wrote that and I’m still writing, speaking, and racewalking marathons. Well, not as fast as I used to. Pastor Rich Olsen at Upland Bible Church in Las Vegas calls me Rapid Robert. Maybe he should call me Resolute Robert, Nonstop Bob, Keep Going Wilkin, Bungle On Bob, Keep Going Geezer, or Tortoise Not Hare.
The Lord Jesus is coming back soon. How we long for His righteous, just, and peaceful kingdom. Until then, let’s remain thankful and keep grace in focus.
