Give Thanks
The holiday season has ended, the lights are put away, or plans are in process to put away the lights, and the ornaments are wrapped so they will not break and be opened up with anticipation for next year.
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. No presents just get together and enjoy a meal and each other’s company. One of my favorite stories is of a grandson who asked his grandfather if he would like to join him for a prayer. Grandpa said yes I would, “Do you want me to pray?” Grandpa asked. Grandson said no I would. As they both kneeled down to pray at the coffee table, the grandson said “Dear Lord…………..Thank you. Amen.
Just simple. How many times have we made events more complicated than they should be?
As we begin this New Year, with new expectations, do not let the busy-ness of our lives take over. Just because we are busy does not mean we are productive or focused. In all circumstances, we are to pray.
Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life. Philippians 4:6-7
I have a bad tendency of losing my keys. There is something about misplacing something you know you just had in your hands, and it cannot be found, and it is nowhere in sight. I know I am not the only one that does this. So many times I have just sat down and calmed down, gathered my thoughts and my keys are just where I left them, right in front of me. We all do it. We find ourselves worked up, sometimes to a boiling point over the smallest things. God is right there with us through the great times, the hard times, the times we are mad at God and those times we are too busy to say thanks.
“Am I only a God nearby,” declares the Lord, and not a God far away? Jeremiah 23:23
So as this New Year is underway, and we have all wrote 2017 in the past week somewhere and had to erase it and put 2018. Do not let our lives get so caught up in ourselves we forget to give thanks. Look around and count your blessings. We are blessed.
And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:17
God Bless,
Mike Conrad
Mike Conrad serves as our Worship Director. When he's not preparing for worship or playing an instrument, he enjoys spending time with his wife boating and fishing. Learn more about Mike here.
