November 13

Dear Central Church,


Have you decided what kind of pie you’ll be having for Thanksgiving yet? Of all the decisions I process on a daily basis, this is the one that seems most important to me. I’m sometimes accused of waiting until the last minute to do things, but when it comes to acquiring a quality pumpkin pie, I become a fastidious planner. 
Pumpkin pie is obviously my favorite part of this holiday. What about you? What’s your favorite part of Thanksgiving? Turkey…time with family…watching the Cowboys lose? 
The Bible calls us to be people of gratitude. The Psalms are filled with songs that specifically focus on the act of giving thanks to the Lord: 

Enter his gates with thanksgiving
    and his courts with praise;
    give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
    his faithfulness continues through all generations. (Psalm 100:4-5)
 
This Psalm declares the faithfulness of God in the past, present, and future. For this we can be eternally thankful. He blesses us with his presence and provision not because of anything we have done, but because he is good and kind. 
 
Thanksgiving is a national holiday, so technically, 340 million Americans will celebrate it two weeks from today. However, I don’t know that everyone will be truly thankful in the spirit of this Psalm. The majority of people in our country seem to go through life with a spirit of entitlement. They look at the good things in their life and conclude that it was their hard work and resilience alone that produced these things. Instead of counting their blessings, they’re more likely to make a list of all the things they don’t have. 
 
Let’s make this season about more than pumpkin pie and watching the Cowboys lose (although those are enough to get me excited). As the people of God, let’s model for those around us what it looks like to be truly grateful: count your blessings, recognize that every good and perfect gift is from the Lord, thank God for the gift of a new day, and be willing to share with others what God has so richly given to you.


Until He's Finished,
Pastor Mark