An elderly couple is lying in bed one morning having just awakened from a good night’s sleep. He takes her hand and she responds, “Don’t touch me!” “Why not? ” he asks. She answers back “Because I’m dead.” The husband says to her, “What on earth are you talking about? We’re both lying here in bed together and talking to one another.” The wife says, “Not so, I’m definitely dead.”
Her husband insists, “You’re not dead. What in the world makes you think you’re dead?” His wife answers, “I know I’m dead, because I woke up this morning and nothing hurts.”
That’s truly something to be thankful for, isn’t it?!
Lily Tomlin once said: “Man invented language to satisfy his deep need to complain.”
And yes, it seems that there is always something to complain about – like the other driver. Or the amount of ads we have in the morning paper. Or the politician who likes to pass laws for the rest of us but makes themselves exempt from them. Or the weather.
We may all need to enjoy a fine “whine” now and then but when it becomes a habit it can color how we see the world.
For me complaining comes all too naturally as in this classic story. “Two construction workers in Chicago, Bob and Frank were working on a high rise and had lunch together every day above the city. The view was amazing and they grew to be friends.
But every day Frank would open his lunch box and complain: meatball sandwich again, I hate meatball sandwiches!
Finally Bob, tired of hearing this, asked him: “Why don’t you just ask your wife to make you another kind of sandwich?”
Frank looked puzzled: What do mean?, he said, I pack my own lunch!”
Hopefully, this month we would choose a different attitude, a better attitude for your life.
I am challenged by this bumper sticker that I once saw pasted to the bumper of a car: “Wag more, bark less.”
You see, we can choose to be thankful even if we burn the Thanksgiving turkey. Here’s several reasons why we can be thankful:
1. Salmonella won’t be a concern.
2. No one will overeat.
3. Everyone will think it’s Cajun blackened.
4. Uninvited guests will think twice next year.
5. Your cheese-broccoli-lima-bean casserole will gain newly found appreciation.
6. Pets won’t pester you for scraps.
7. The smoke alarm was due for a test.
8. Carving the bird will provide a good cardiovascular workout.
9. After dinner, the guys can take the bird to the yard and play football.
10. The less turkey Uncle Harry eats, the less likely he will be to walk around with his pants unbuttoned.
11. You’ll get to the desserts quicker.
12. You won’t have to face three weeks of turkey sandwiches.
The month of November and Thanksgiving always is a good reminder that “in everything we are called to give thanks.”
I was raised in a family that was simple. We never celebrated Thanksgiving with a big meal. We didn’t have a table spread and fit for a king. Yes, we had our pumpkin and mincemeat pies. We had our mashed potatoes. We had a turkey once in a while. For the most part, I can remember the good dressing (no, not oyster dressing) that I was able to consume.
I remember Thanksgivings when the weather was absolutely gorgeous, and others when there was snow on the ground. And I can remember going for drives and looking at the leaves which still clung to their branches. For some of us, it was football outdoors with each of us imitating Bart Starr and the Packers. Remember, there were no Colts in Indianapolis. I can remember as a child taking a paper sack and making a Pilgrim or an Indian outfit at school.
Psalm 100 is one of those grand psalms. Take a few minutes to read it.
Having a glad attitude consists of several truths:
A. The first ingredient is—Shout: “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all you lands.” Or as the New King James puts it: “Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!”
The Psalmist is telling us to practice letting positive, praiseworthy things come out of our mouths. Practice the art of praise.
B. The second truth is serving. Verse 2 says, “Serve the Lord with gladness.”
Sometimes we find ourselves serving the Lord, with carrying around a pound of limburger cheese with it. Serving can become drudgery.
The Psalmist very kindly says, “Serve the Lord with gladness.”
C. The third ingredient is come. Look at verse 2 again: Come before His presence with singing.
Well, God created music; and even though I don’t have much a singing voice, I know that God’s music is very powerful and very therapeutic and very healing.
Our combined choirs are rehearsing for Christmas. It’s going to be great. You see, our heart attitude stretches into our Christmas cheer. We cannot but help sing when we know we have a Savior who was born to us.
D. Fourth: Know that the Lord…
The Psalmist brings us to the heart of the matter. If we are going to shout and serve and come, then we must know three things about the Lord. And those three things are found in verse 3:
First, He is our God. Know that the Lord, He is God.
Second, He is our Maker. Know that the Lord, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves.
Third, He is our Shepherd. Know that the Lord, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves. We are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.
I can get into a grumpy mood, and suddenly I’m not happy with anything or anyone but choosing to be glad/thankful/grateful goes a long way to correcting our tendency to complain.
Let’s reflect on the ordinary everyday blessings from God.
A hug from your kids going out the door to school.
A car that starts most of the time.
A bed to sleep in every night.
A furnace to warm us up this time of the year.
A cup of water any time we want it.
Delight yourself in God. As David put it in Psalm 16, “You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.”
The nearer we get to God, and delight in God, the more we enjoy present blessings here and now… the more we enjoy life.