Tuesday after Last Sunday - A Devotion
Devotion for Tuesday after Last Sunday
Daniel 4:1-37 Revelation 21:1-8
This is the week of Thanksgiving, maybe you will read this before that day of celebration. 2020 is a bit unusual, some might say there is less for which to be thankful. If we take God at His word, we are supposed to be thankful in all circumstances, including the things that might not be so wonderful.
Dog eat dog at the office. Two people out sick from your team and you have a deadline to meet - no ifs, no ands, no buts - it must be done by 3:30. Given there are only 3 people on your team, it means you have to do it all alone. Add to this the fact that the prep work is on the computer, and it has now crashed... Is it any wonder that you know have the world’s greatest headache? As you take the two Advil the secretary hands over, you offer a prayer to God, “Please Lord, let this headache go away, and help me to get this proposal done on time.
Later, as you head to the manager’s office, proposal finished and a big smile on your face, your secretary asks if the headache is gone. “Yup, that Advil really did the trick! Thanks a lot!”
Your proposal is a big hit. It lands your company a twenty million dollar contract. You have earned the owner’s attention as he stops you in the hall outside your office, “Nice work. Here’s the company credit card. I had my secretary book flights and rooms at a resort in the Bahamas. Take off Friday and bring your wife there for the weekend. Enjoy yourself, you’ve earned it. Almost speechless, eyes glued to the flight confirmation you’ve been handed and the Platinum American Express card, you manage a, “Wow! Thanks, boss!”
However, it wasn’t until you read this anecdote that you realized how often you have offered up a quick prayer request to God, and haven’t taken the time to properly thank Him.
Without Him, the Advil would never have been invented, your secretary wouldn’t have had extras, nor would it have worked - if that had not been His intention. Neither would you have had the skill necessary to complete the project proposal on time. It was He who gave you the talents and abilities, not to mention the guidance to successfully complete it.
How many prayers, begging for emergency assistance, have been quickly offered up to God? How many prayers of thanksgiving to Him were given when He answered them in the affirmative? Oh, thanks were offered... Thanks goodness for Advil... Thanks goodness for chemotherapy. Thanks to the doctor... Thanks to my ingenuity... Thanks and glory to God???
Ten lepers begged Jesus for mercy. Ten were sent on their way and were healed. Ten were cleansed of their leprosy. One, only one, and that one a Samaritan, returned to give glory to God. Only one returned to give thanks to God.
How quickly we run to God when things turn sour, but when we are delivered from our tribulation, how quick we are to forget that God alone delivered us.
Thanksgiving Day - A day to give thanks for all our blessings. (Too bad that is the only day that some people give thanks.) Someone asked me, “Pastor, what is first on your list of things for which you are thankful?”
Is it my wonderful wife, Pauline? No! Is it the incredible two sons God has given me, through her? No! Is it my extended family? No! Is it the wonderful people of Zion, St. Peter, and St. John Lutheran Churches who love me as their pastor even with all my foibles and idiosyncracies? No! Is it the food God provides? No! Is it the wonderful friends I made in Nigeria who came to us, stayed in our home for an extended period of time at the beginning of this COVID panic-demic? No!
This is not to say that I am not thankful to God for these rich blessings of His bountiful goodness in my life, but they are not the top of the list.
So, you’re thinking, “Well then, what is???”
I am most thankful for the love of God in Christ Jesus. That my heavenly Father would give His only
begotten son to die for me, to forgive me for my unthankfulness. That He has authored and will perfect my
faith, giving me eternal life and salvation in and through His Son, Jesus
Christ, my Redeemer.
Daniel 4:1-37 Revelation 21:1-8
This is the week of Thanksgiving, maybe you will read this before that day of celebration. 2020 is a bit unusual, some might say there is less for which to be thankful. If we take God at His word, we are supposed to be thankful in all circumstances, including the things that might not be so wonderful.
Dog eat dog at the office. Two people out sick from your team and you have a deadline to meet - no ifs, no ands, no buts - it must be done by 3:30. Given there are only 3 people on your team, it means you have to do it all alone. Add to this the fact that the prep work is on the computer, and it has now crashed... Is it any wonder that you know have the world’s greatest headache? As you take the two Advil the secretary hands over, you offer a prayer to God, “Please Lord, let this headache go away, and help me to get this proposal done on time.
Later, as you head to the manager’s office, proposal finished and a big smile on your face, your secretary asks if the headache is gone. “Yup, that Advil really did the trick! Thanks a lot!”
Your proposal is a big hit. It lands your company a twenty million dollar contract. You have earned the owner’s attention as he stops you in the hall outside your office, “Nice work. Here’s the company credit card. I had my secretary book flights and rooms at a resort in the Bahamas. Take off Friday and bring your wife there for the weekend. Enjoy yourself, you’ve earned it. Almost speechless, eyes glued to the flight confirmation you’ve been handed and the Platinum American Express card, you manage a, “Wow! Thanks, boss!”
However, it wasn’t until you read this anecdote that you realized how often you have offered up a quick prayer request to God, and haven’t taken the time to properly thank Him.
Without Him, the Advil would never have been invented, your secretary wouldn’t have had extras, nor would it have worked - if that had not been His intention. Neither would you have had the skill necessary to complete the project proposal on time. It was He who gave you the talents and abilities, not to mention the guidance to successfully complete it.
How many prayers, begging for emergency assistance, have been quickly offered up to God? How many prayers of thanksgiving to Him were given when He answered them in the affirmative? Oh, thanks were offered... Thanks goodness for Advil... Thanks goodness for chemotherapy. Thanks to the doctor... Thanks to my ingenuity... Thanks and glory to God???
Ten lepers begged Jesus for mercy. Ten were sent on their way and were healed. Ten were cleansed of their leprosy. One, only one, and that one a Samaritan, returned to give glory to God. Only one returned to give thanks to God.
How quickly we run to God when things turn sour, but when we are delivered from our tribulation, how quick we are to forget that God alone delivered us.
Thanksgiving Day - A day to give thanks for all our blessings. (Too bad that is the only day that some people give thanks.) Someone asked me, “Pastor, what is first on your list of things for which you are thankful?”
Is it my wonderful wife, Pauline? No! Is it the incredible two sons God has given me, through her? No! Is it my extended family? No! Is it the wonderful people of Zion, St. Peter, and St. John Lutheran Churches who love me as their pastor even with all my foibles and idiosyncracies? No! Is it the food God provides? No! Is it the wonderful friends I made in Nigeria who came to us, stayed in our home for an extended period of time at the beginning of this COVID panic-demic? No!
This is not to say that I am not thankful to God for these rich blessings of His bountiful goodness in my life, but they are not the top of the list.
So, you’re thinking, “Well then, what is???”
Today I am using my blog space to offer my Thanksgiving! Thank you Lord, for your rich gift of Christ Jesus. Thank you for calling me, enlightening me with your gifts, sanctifying me and keeping me in the true faith. Oh, and thank you for all that I have - for I know that it is provided for me solely out of your Fatherly divine goodness and mercy without any merit or worthiness on my part. Thanks be to God. Amen.
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