To be ThankFULL

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We pardon this feast for a moment of ‘nation identification’…you’re listening to the sound of Thanksliving.

So stop, look around, breathe in the moment. What do you see? How do you feel? Are you snug in good cheer? Are you smittenly cozy? Or do you hear sound of one far from prosy*?

Today we gather as people of blessing, amidst the cranberries, the yams and the dressing.
But I have a query that may sound quite quirky: What are you stuffed with and please don’t say ‘turkey’? 

It’s good to be full, but ‘of what’ is key.  If we’re made to “run over”**, I’d say start with glee. But a season of thanks goes way beyond joy. It’s loving a grace we’re called to employ. It’s being FULL of what is worth giving. And this, friends, is why I call it Thanksliving.

For today is not marked by Macy’s or glace, it’s finding delight in what tends to lose place. Like recalling how God has moved in your life, the glory of motion and favor in rife. So at the risk of sounding outrageous, let me say how this all should be contagious.

To be thankFULL is to honor the wonder of cross, acknowledging God who is rightfully boss. To be thankFULL is to cherish the splendor of praise and how we can worship with hearts set to blaze. To be thankFULL is to seek first a Kingdom most sound, noting how we were once lost but now found. To be thankFULL is to lay down both right and control, letting peace rule, as our God, we extol. To be thankFULL is to find relief in what’s holy, giving back love to the weak and the lowly. To be thankFULL is to be hateFULL…except in reverse. To be thankFULL is to be fateFULL…timed by its inverse. To be thankFULL is to be faithFULL, fruitFULL in cheer, to be thoughtFULL and mindFULL of those we hold dear. And the best part of all is not only in action, but when this all sticks to our spiritual traction.

So remember today is not just a day, but a lifestyle, choice and a way that we pray. It’s not about what we have or don’t own, it’s knowing foremostly we’re never alone. It’s knowing that even when life gets real tough, I know where to turn and I can’t get enough.

So pass the gravy along with the lovin’, ‘cause the best things in life come from God, not an oven.
"Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name." ~ 1 Chronicles 29:11-13 (ESV)
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