Reasons to be Thankful
Let’s stop and think for just a moment. You are sitting in this service this morning listening to the Word of God being preached. How did you get here? Did the Father not give you the breath of life that brought you through the night and did He not give you the strength to get out of bed this morning? Did He not provide breakfast for you this day? Did He not enable you to move your arms and legs so that you could get to breakfast and feed yourself?
Has He not provided for you all the past days and years? Did He not give you a family that loves you? Didn’t God give you the ability to see and hear this morning?
It is true that as we become more mature, our sight might not be as sharp as it used to be or our hearing may not be as keen, but we need to give thanks to Him for what He has given us and what we still have.
We may not be able to move along as well as we would like, but we can still move. We are not paralyzed from head to foot and that certainly is a reason to give thanks.
God bless each of His children regardless of what physical condition they may be in. The blind person is blessed with other keen senses and attributes. Listen to this story:
Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs. His bed was next to the room’s only window.
The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back. The men talked for hours on end. They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service and where they had been on vacation.
Every afternoon when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window.
The man in the other bed began to live for those one hour periods when his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the world outside.
The man by the window described the park and the lovely lake outside. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Young lovers walked arm in arm among the flowers of every color and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance.
One afternoon the man by the window described a parade passing by. Although the other man couldn’t hear the band – he could see it. The gentleman by the window used very descriptive words to paint a picture for the other man.
After the man by the window died, the other man asked if they would move his bed next to the window. The request was granted and the man’s bed was moved next to the window. The man painfully propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the real world. He discovered that the window faced a blank wall. The man asked the nurse how his former roommate could describe such wonderful sites.
The nurse said the other man was totally blind and could not even see the wall. She went on to say that the blind man had thanked God for replacing his sight with the keen sense of imagination and descriptive words so that he could enlighten the life of people around him. The nurse said the blind man told her God had blessed him with things money could not buy and he gave all the glory and praise to Him.
Every person is blessed regardless of their physical condition. God deserves to be thanked for each one of these blessings.
From a sermon by Bill Butsko, Give Thanks, 11/19/2009