Thank you

How easy is it for you to say thank you? It's easier for me now than it use to be. Sadly, while I may have been thankful, I didn't always say thank you. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving but it's also Hanukkah. According to the Jewish Jewels newsletter, for the first time since 1861 the first day of Hanukkah and Thanksgiving Day fall on the same day. How cool is that?

After reading the newsletter, I learned that the Jewish holiday is centered around giving thanks and that it isn't a mandated celebration from God. Hanukkah celebrates the miracle of oil and how God kept the oil burning in the Temple. The Maccabees, who stood up for God when it wasn't popular or politically correct, put into motion this eight day long celebration that focuses on giving thanks to God for his miracles.

Thanksgiving, on the other hand, I feel has slowly become a time to be thankful for who and what we have in our lives. As I well know, being thankful is different than giving thanks. To be thankful is to feel grateful, or pleased, or satisfied and so on. When we're thankful we don't necessarily tell anyone about it, or give them thanks for their part in it.

The coming together of these two holidays directs us from just being thankful to speaking gratitude. So who are we giving thanks to? Are we acknowledging just the people? Or, are we also thanking God who has allowed the blessings and provisions in our lives?

One of the verses read during the Hanukkah celebration speaks of the sacrifice of thanksgiving. (Psalm 116) Have you ever wondered why it's a sacrifice? While I haven't thought of it as a sacrifice I do understand the difficulty in sometimes getting the words out of my mouth.

The Jewish Jewels newsletter quoted Rabbi Naftali Hoffner, who basically said that speaking thanks puts aside our self-centered attitudes and gives credit to God. Think about it. When we say "thank you" to someone for their action we show appreciation that they made an effort to help us or care for us. The same holds true when we thank God.

According to the writings of Paul in Thessalonians, we're to give thanks to God in all things. This is not always a natural thing to do. When we're suffering it's so much easier to say, "why me?", "I don't deserve this!" But the newsletter pointed out that when we thank God while we're going through a tough time that we're believing God to show his goodness and mercy in bringing an end to our hardship. And, in giving him thanks we bless him.

Wow. All through the Psalms it speaks of blessing God. I didn't realize that in giving God thanks I was blessing him. What a concept. This Thanksgiving I hope we can all remember to give thanks to God for the people and provisions we are thankful to have in our lives.