Tim H. Swanson
“Blah, blah, blah, whatever.” It’s disgusting, but that’s the typical response of lifelong church attenders, like me, to a lot of what the Bible has to say. I grew up in a family where we attended church no matter what. As I kid, I got a healthy dose of Scripture every week, whether I wanted it or not. There were some parts of the Bible that were cool to me, like Jeremiah 33:3, "Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know." Yes! Sign me up for some of that. But there were also other parts of the Bible that just seemed to drone on and on with pointless stuff. like this verse, "Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful" (Colossians 4:2). My Sunday school teachers would ask everyone what they were thankful for, then they'd go around answering, "my parents". "my dog" "the amazing truth that God's Word reveals in my life every single day". Meanwhile, I was counting the water stains on the ceiling tiles, which was either a symptom of boredom or autism - or both.
In any case, when you're like me and you foster a bad attitude about the Bible, it can be hard to overcome. There's great danger in it because there can be a tendency to overlook very important topics. They seem common place. For me thankfulness is one of those topics. It's one of those "blah, blah blah, whatever" words. I see it come up again and again in the Bible, but I habitually breeze over it, trying to get to what I consider to be the more important stuff.
Recently, my boss recommended that I have another look at thankfulness. I'm glad I did, because I found that it's essential to our spiritual growth. Thankfulness helps us combat the number one evil in our lives - selfishness. There's a reason Paul prescribes it so much in his letter to the new church. He also start about 70% of his letters with a declaration of his prayers of thankfulness for Christians all around the world. When we focus on the things we have to be grateful for, we spend less time investing in selfish thoughts and behavior.
Now, Thanksgiving is coming up. It's the time of year where we're supposed to be thankful. During this time of year I used to think, "Oh great, thanksgiving. Time to wear stupid clothes to church and talk about a bunch of dumb stuff." Maybe you're like me, and you feel like it's a little commonplace. But being thankful isn't that at all. It's an excellent tool for growing closer to God and being more like Him.
I you've been around church for your whole life, and topics like thankfulness seem lame, I want to invite you to join me this year in searching for some new things to be thankful for. This year, let's think about some new areas of our lives about which we can be grateful. Here are some areas for which I've been thankful, but you can comment at the bottom and leave your own special thoughts of thankfulness.
1. Impactful relationships on your team. Do you lead or serve on a team with two people who have a valuable relationship that enriches their lives? I hit the mother load this year. Two of my team members met while serving on my team, and are getting married at the end of the month. Thanks God!
2. The things God is teaching those closest to us. Don't get me wrong, I'm very thankful for what God is teaching me, but I have learned boatloads by just observing the teachable attitude of my wife. Is there anyone around you with a teachable attitude that you can learn from? Those people are a gift from God.
3. The worst thing that's happened to you this year. If the Bible's true (and it is), then James 1:2-3 is a great deal for you and me, "Consider it pure joy by brothers and sisters, when you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance." Did you have a rough year? Great news, God is hooking you up!
4. The next generation of leaders. Leaders that are rising up from the next generation are getting a bad wrap. They typically get painted as lazy - being willing to spend their parent's money, while not caring to work hard to earn their own. There are plenty of young adults like that today, but here's a little secret that nobody's talking about, let me whisper it to you - there were boatloads of lazy Baby Boomers and Gen-Xers too. The new generation is a blessing. God is enabling young leaders today to think about the world's problems in new ways. For that reason we have wonderful things like one for one programs, and new technologies that turn dirty toilet water into palpable drinking water. Awesome! Thanks God, young leaders rock!
5. People who adopt children. What a cool example of selfless love. I wan to be more like those people. God, thank you for people who are so selflessly and visibly sacrificial.
6. Dave Ramsey. In a world full of crippling debt and get rich quick schemes, Dave Ramsey is leading the march in sound financial teaching. He is a financial voice of reason for today's generation. God, thank you for Dave Ramsey and his team.
Q: What do you typically overlook at thanksgiving that you can be really thankful for this year?
In any case, when you're like me and you foster a bad attitude about the Bible, it can be hard to overcome. There's great danger in it because there can be a tendency to overlook very important topics. They seem common place. For me thankfulness is one of those topics. It's one of those "blah, blah blah, whatever" words. I see it come up again and again in the Bible, but I habitually breeze over it, trying to get to what I consider to be the more important stuff.
Recently, my boss recommended that I have another look at thankfulness. I'm glad I did, because I found that it's essential to our spiritual growth. Thankfulness helps us combat the number one evil in our lives - selfishness. There's a reason Paul prescribes it so much in his letter to the new church. He also start about 70% of his letters with a declaration of his prayers of thankfulness for Christians all around the world. When we focus on the things we have to be grateful for, we spend less time investing in selfish thoughts and behavior.
Now, Thanksgiving is coming up. It's the time of year where we're supposed to be thankful. During this time of year I used to think, "Oh great, thanksgiving. Time to wear stupid clothes to church and talk about a bunch of dumb stuff." Maybe you're like me, and you feel like it's a little commonplace. But being thankful isn't that at all. It's an excellent tool for growing closer to God and being more like Him.
I you've been around church for your whole life, and topics like thankfulness seem lame, I want to invite you to join me this year in searching for some new things to be thankful for. This year, let's think about some new areas of our lives about which we can be grateful. Here are some areas for which I've been thankful, but you can comment at the bottom and leave your own special thoughts of thankfulness.
1. Impactful relationships on your team. Do you lead or serve on a team with two people who have a valuable relationship that enriches their lives? I hit the mother load this year. Two of my team members met while serving on my team, and are getting married at the end of the month. Thanks God!
2. The things God is teaching those closest to us. Don't get me wrong, I'm very thankful for what God is teaching me, but I have learned boatloads by just observing the teachable attitude of my wife. Is there anyone around you with a teachable attitude that you can learn from? Those people are a gift from God.
3. The worst thing that's happened to you this year. If the Bible's true (and it is), then James 1:2-3 is a great deal for you and me, "Consider it pure joy by brothers and sisters, when you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance." Did you have a rough year? Great news, God is hooking you up!
4. The next generation of leaders. Leaders that are rising up from the next generation are getting a bad wrap. They typically get painted as lazy - being willing to spend their parent's money, while not caring to work hard to earn their own. There are plenty of young adults like that today, but here's a little secret that nobody's talking about, let me whisper it to you - there were boatloads of lazy Baby Boomers and Gen-Xers too. The new generation is a blessing. God is enabling young leaders today to think about the world's problems in new ways. For that reason we have wonderful things like one for one programs, and new technologies that turn dirty toilet water into palpable drinking water. Awesome! Thanks God, young leaders rock!
5. People who adopt children. What a cool example of selfless love. I wan to be more like those people. God, thank you for people who are so selflessly and visibly sacrificial.
6. Dave Ramsey. In a world full of crippling debt and get rich quick schemes, Dave Ramsey is leading the march in sound financial teaching. He is a financial voice of reason for today's generation. God, thank you for Dave Ramsey and his team.
Q: What do you typically overlook at thanksgiving that you can be really thankful for this year?
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