Originally published on the Electric Gospel on November 22, 2018.
On this Thanksgiving Day, I dug out a message I had written for church use some years ago. I needed to remind myself to be thankful even when material circumstances aren’t ideal. As the Word of God urges, “Always rejoice. Pray without ceasing. In everything, give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus toward you” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).
May you find blessing this Thanksgiving.
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Can you be thankful if your turkey is skinny?
by David Sellnow
At your house on Thanksgiving Day, when it’s time to have a prayer before the meal, is there somebody who blurts out, “Praise the Lord and pass the butter”? It’s just a silly comment made in fun, but it points to an attitude we all fall into quite often: Praise the Lord (a little) and pass the butter (a lot). We’re in a hurry to get done with spiritual things so we can get on to other things that we think of as more enjoyable. Praise the Lord a little, then let’s get on with lunch, or football, or shopping, or movies, or whatever. At our Thanksgiving meals, what gets more attention and conversation—the spiritual blessings of the past year, or just how good all the foods taste?
We are people who easily focus on our bellies. We hunger for extra helpings. We have an appetite for pleasures and possessions. Our Thanksgiving celebrations tend to flow in that direction too. We notice material goods that God bestows—sufficient income, paid-up bills, bodily health, absence of pain, etc. We’re glad and thankful when there is a big fat turkey on our table.
But what if there isn’t? Can you be thankful if your turkey is skinny? Can you be grateful if good things seem few and far between? Can you still have Thanksgiving if your income is dwindling and bills are increasing, if your health is poor and pain level high? Can you be thankful even where there’s not much in the freezer and the cupboards are almost bare?
To consider such questions, let’s give our attention to Hebrews chapter 12. We’ll pay particular attention to the key verse at the end of the chapter (verse 28). But let’s walk through the beginning of the chapter first, to see the overall inspired train of thought.
Hebrews 12:1-3 (World English Bible) …
Let’s lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let’s run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising its shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him who has endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, that you don’t grow weary, fainting in your souls.
- The first answer to the question, “Can you be thankful if your turkey is skinny?” is: Yes, if you’re looking at what’s truly important. What’s important in life is not how much comfort or luxury we have in our present life. Eyes of faith are fixed on Jesus and on heaven. If we keep looking ahead, in Christ, to our ultimate goal, we can find reason to be thankful even during times when we suffer miserably. Look at the great number of prophets and apostles who lived their lives that way. Look at Jesus himself! He suffered horrors beyond our imagination, but was willing to endure all because he knew the outcome was eternal life—not just for himself, but for all of us with him. We are his pride and joy, the reason he endured such suffering. Surely we can endure pain and hardship for the sake of Jesus, who is our pride and joy.
Hebrews 12:4-13 …
You have not yet resisted to blood, striving against sin. You have forgotten the exhortation which reasons with you as with children: “My son, don’t take lightly the chastening of the Lord,
nor faint when you are reproved by him; for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines, and chastises every son whom he receives.”
It is for discipline that you endure. God deals with you as with children, for what son is there whom his father doesn’t discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have been made partakers, then you are illegitimate, and not children. Furthermore, we had the fathers of our flesh to chasten us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits, and live? For they indeed, for a few days, punished us as seemed good to them; but he for our profit, that we may be partakers of his holiness. All chastening seems for the present to be not joyous but grievous; yet afterward it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Therefore lift up the hands that hang down and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.
- Can you be thankful if your turkey is skinny? Yes, if you value healthy discipline. Facing hardship and enduring pain is not a bad thing. We may feel bad in our bodies, but suffering is enormously good for our souls. In good times we are too apt to forget about God, our Maker and Preserver who gives us all good things. In tough times especially, we realize that we are dependent on God and call out to him for our needs. God often uses physical losses to do us spiritual good. We give thanks when we suffer, knowing God is using the suffering to train our spirits, disciplining us as his children so that we don’t get so caught up in the wants of this world, but rather see the greater value of spiritual things.
Now let’s jump ahead to the powerful concluding verses of the chapter –
Hebrews 12:28-29 …
Therefore, receiving a Kingdom that can’t be shaken, let’s have grace, through which we serve God acceptably, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.
- Whether your turkey is fat or skinny, it doesn’t matter. Simply “say grace” and give thanks in every moment, just as we do as we sit down to a meal. Offer prayers and continue to serve the Lord. Worship the God who made you, who saved you, who gives you a place in his eternal kingdom. Worship him with your whole life. Appreciate and praise what he’s doing each day. Don’t ever become complacent about your spiritual life or your thanks to the Lord. Remember, God is a consuming fire whose glory we will be glad to see, but who can also burn us in a moment if we push him out of our hearts and lives. Hold onto the grace that God has given you in Jesus. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus. Follow the pattern of the great cloud of witnesses of the faith, the heroes of the Bible who lived by faith (who were described in Hebrews chapter 11). As it was for them, so it is for us: The righteous live by faith, and we give thanks to the God who has given us that faith.
So praise the Lord and pass the butter as you celebrate Thanksgiving. Even if you don’t have much beyond bread and butter to pass, even if your turkey is skinny, God be praised. He is our eternal Redeemer.
