How Thankful Are You?

Have you thought of fixing the world lately? Would you like to change some things? Would you like to be governor or mayor or president? Have you figured out how to make this planet a better place? Have you scanned the global issues? Many say the issues are environmental. Some say they are unfairness. They are bias. Some say it's about politics. Some say it's about inequality. Well, there are some of those issues that are real and they're important.

Here's the real global issue that I'd like to deal with today. It's found in Romans chapter 1 and verse 21. The big issue is because although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts and their foolish hearts were darkened.

That's the real problem that exists in all of those things I just mentioned and all of the problems and all of the people trying to fix those problems today. Hearts that are darkened and they become foolish and futile in their thinking because of a departure from this, God, the Word of God, looking to God and looking to His law as the solution.

Any solution that does not involve God and God's law is futile, absolutely futile. And if we back up a little bit, the reason for this futility, it says, is because they were not thankful. They didn't thank God for this. They didn't say, oh, thank you for your law. Thank you for your creation. Thank you for the rules, the principles, the precepts, the judgments that you have given in an application of your way. Thank you so much for that.

We recognize the value in that and therefore we're thankful. Are you thankful in the way that God wants us to be? This isn't about somebody else. It's about me, you. The purpose today is to hopefully generate a realization of the need to be thankful and then have that need affect a change in us to where we become more thankful in the right way.

The title of the message is, How Thankful Are You? Being loving of others is the fulfillment of the second commandment. If others includes God, well then it's the fulfilling of the great two commandments. And loving of others means to be thinking about them, but thinking about them and thankful for them is not a trait of human nature. Rather, humans tend to minimize other people. They tend to sort of gloss and glance over, minimize that, but this is about me. And consequently, by minimizing others, they tend to not be thankful for them. Just write them off. This is about me.

This is about my life. This is about what I want. This is about my view. I'll get on and I'll share my view and I'll push what I think. If there's anybody else says, that's irrelevant. So we're not thankful. We're minimizing and belittling sometimes people's opinions, people's race, people's sexuality, people's choices, people's tastes.

Let me ask you a few questions. Just to give you an idea of how we as a Western culture tend to minimize people. Who was the first self-made millionaire in America? The first self-made millionaire female in America? Well, it was an orphan girl from a slave family coming out of the Civil War period. An orphan girl, orphaned at age seven from a family of slaves, was our first self-made woman millionaire.

Sarah Breedlove was her name. Who founded the science of radioactivity? A Polish woman. Marie Curie was her married name. Who split the first uranium atom? A Jewish woman. Lise Meitner. Who provided the evidence of the DNA structure that everybody's all about today. Rosalind Franklin. Who was the first computer programmer. Ada Lovelace. Who invented the COBOL commercial program for computers. Grace Hopper. Who was the first person to navigate the world in 80 days?

She actually did it in 1975. Elizabeth Nellie Bligh. Who was the first woman to earn an international pilot's license back in 1921. The first person to ever get an international pilot's license. That was a woman. She was half black, half Cherokee. Bessie Coleman. In fact, it was quite a story. Being a pilot, I appreciate this. Women didn't have flight schools, especially not black Indian women.

She had to actually save her money and get herself to France to get a pilot's license. But she got the first international pilot's license. Who were the astronomy computers at Harvard University? Women. Who computed the NASA space flights through the John Glenn Friendship 7 launch. African-American Catherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson. Here are some real individuals who culture, in a sense, relies upon.

The list is long. If you look at the top 100 or so females who have contributed to society, you don't really hear about them. Often they lived at a time when they couldn't be recognized or wouldn't be recognized. But they were very talented, and yet they were not appreciated. They were not thanked. People didn't take the time to say, oh, we appreciate you very much because men like to domineer. Not just dominate, but domineer. Down through time, you see men domineering and suppressing women. Suppressing them. Because women are so talented and so brilliant, men who are the domineering type feel a threat to their superiority.

So they squash them, and they sometimes beat them, sometimes kill them. They sequester them into roles that are just so low. So then we have Jesus Christ who comes along and says, here are the two great commandments. Love God with all your heart, soul, and might, and love your neighbor as yourself. Now, if we were to have done that as a human civilization, this would be a very different world in which we live. God's law are to show appreciation for others. It begins with the first great commandment. Let's go to Psalm 100 and verse 3. Psalm 100 and verse 3.

Know that the Lord, He is God. It is He who made us.

When you stop and you read the words, it was He who made us, it begs you to pause a moment. And whatever understanding you have of the human body, of the human tissues, of all the electronics that are in our bodies, and not just the physical architecture, but the mental architecture, things that you and I depend upon. Some of them not so nice to talk about, but the various sensations we have that let us know when we need to do things. Whether it's to drink a glass of water or to do other things.

God has made us so incredibly detailed, physically, mentally. And then you add in the emotions. And then the tastes, the desires that we have, also have to be factored into that. Those are all created by God. And we not ourselves.

He designed all that we are, all that we enjoy. We are His people. Well, now He has called some out as elect or selected this time.

About one in 325,000 today are selected to come to know His Word in a real way.

And we're the sheep of His pasture. Wow, He's actually focused on us. What does that mean? Sheep and His pasture. And when you explore that. Then verse 4, enter into His gates with thanksgiving. We can come right before God and we're to enter there with thanksgiving. Appreciation for what God has done. Not just taking and saying, oh yeah, yeah, yeah, I take, I take, I take, I take, I take, I take, oh yeah, and I hope I'll live forever too. But coming in with thanksgiving and doing His courts with praise.

Be thankful to Him and bless His name.

See, that's the first commandment exemplified. To love God with your heart, soul, and mind means to be appreciative and thankful.

Do we ponder God's plan of salvation? We ponder what kind of God would come up with a plan of salvation for things that don't even exist.

And then go through all that He did, He and His Son, for us. And then to give us a calling now.

An opportunity to be in a resurrection. Chance to be in the church and actually know what's going on in the world and what the future is ahead of us.

To be a bride with Christ. In Colossians 1 and 12. Let's go over to Colossians 1 and 12.

Giving thanks to the Father, giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.

Wow! What a fabulous opportunity to qualify you to be a partaker of the inheritance, which is all things with Jesus Christ.

In the light, He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the son of His love.

That word kingdom primarily means rulership. He has conveyed us into the rulership of the son of His love. He is your Lord and Master. He is the head of the church.

What a wonderful opportunity we have at this point in time.

And it's the same with the second great commandment. Love your neighbor as yourself.

If we go back to Ephesians 6 and verse 1, we find that this begins when we're little. Ephesians 6 and verse 1. Children, obey your parents and the Lord, for this is right. Verse 2. Honor your father and your mother.

Children need to thank, be thankful for. In other words, they honor, they are appreciative of. And they live their lives in a way that shows respect for the life that they've been given, and for their parents.

This is an opportunity for us as little ones to begin to learn thankfulness and appreciation. But don't expect that to just happen. Because throughout childhood and into early adulthood, that's a missing component of human nature. Being thoughtful of others isn't there. Just witness a little child. They're not thankful. They're not thinking of their brother or sister or other friends. They just as soon make them cry and walk away.

And as they get a little older and get into school, it just gets worse. They pick on, they belittle, they chip away, they will use other school students. And it's a wonder sometimes that any of us got out of high school without some huge inferiority complex. And some of us did get out of high school with a huge inferiority complex.

And those are years where the human compassion and the thoughtfulness of others has not fully developed. Oftentimes people will want to marry about that time. And that's when marriages really don't work well. Because there's not a thoughtfulness, there's not an appreciation, there's not a thankfulness as part of the psyche that's developed highly at that age. But it does come along.

So what we find here, then, is children need an opportunity to develop this appreciation.

It says, this is the first commandment with promise that it may be well with you and that you may live long on the earth. So children are to be taught in a way that makes them live long on the earth.

When we think about what this means, it means there's a great appreciation of children with life and with those that contribute to that life.

As we read in verse 4, there needs to be a proper engagement with children so that they can develop an appreciation. It says, and you fathers do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord. That doesn't mean to just preach at your child.

That means to partner with your child. It means to bring your child in as a union, as a participant. Participation brings buy-in.

A whole bunch of sermon lessons don't bring buy-in, but participation brings buy-in. I'll give you an example.

When my wife and I were younger and had little children, we took a lot of trips letting individuals, teenagers particularly, have experiences that we had had in our life so far, going to various places. And these teens lived in a part of the country where they hadn't been very far. It was a very poor part of the country. And so we got them involved in travel to see most of the United States and part of southern Canada.

We got them to go to an international country.

Now, the way it was done was by involving them in the process, not giving it to them, like parents tend to do for their kids. Have this, have this, have this, have this. Kids don't appreciate things when you give them things. But if you let them participate and have buy-in and actually contribute to the cost, then they begin to learn what is involved in opportunities, what is involved in possessions.

And so a father here is going to bring them up in the training and the admonition of the Lord, is also going to bring them up in the process, not just hearing a bunch of words.

One thing that we learned about these, they went very well. The kids had to earn part of their money, and we can contribute part of the money, and we help them with fundraising. And so it became part of their trip, and then they had to pack. And then as we traveled, they had to set up the tents, and they helped with the cooking. See, it was their tent. It was their journey. It was their trip. It was their destination. Life needs to be like that with a child. So they say, Oh, I realize that in a meal, what all is involved. I realize in an activity what's involved. I realize in what we're doing here, there's money. It costs money.

One trip we took with them was in the wintertime. It was the worst experience we ever had on any trip. We went at a time of year when it was snowing and cold, and we went to Colorado to take them skiing at a really fine ski resort.

The only problem was, being cold, they couldn't get outside. We didn't stay in tents. Everything was provided. The food was provided. The lodging was provided. The skis were provided. It was cold. It was uncomfortable. And all they had to do was critique the entire trip, sitting in chairs.

Do I like the food? Do I like the weather? Do I like the comfort? Do I like snow skiing?

And the answer pretty much was, no.

It was a miserable trip. Now, the point is, you can rear your children like that and to where they're critics. Well, I don't like that. And I don't like that. And I don't like that. And that's not good enough. And you're not good enough. And my parents aren't good enough. See, they'll just be critics because they never were participants. God wants you to take them and get them participating in this way of life and get them participating in your family. Get them participating in his family.

My wife and I didn't know how to raise children. So when she was pregnant with our first child, we made a stop at a family home who had wonderful children. Those children had grown up and we had really appreciated them, some of our peers. And we wanted to know how they raised children like that. And we had no idea. So we drove to Albuquerque, New Mexico, and asked to be taught how to child-rear. Figured we might be there a long time.

The answer was one thing. One thing. Give your child as much responsibility as they can handle, as early as they can handle it.

End of child-rearing lesson. At first, I didn't believe my ears. Give your child as much responsibility as they can handle, kind of like David, kind of like Esther, kind of like the people of the Bible, Mary, Jesus' mother, Timothy, as early as they can handle it. Now that's a scary thing to a parent. Tell your child to make them responsible for things and give them responsibility as early in life as they can handle it. And then when they grow up and they are adolescents, they'll be ready to step out into life and be responsible because they have been.

You know, when we look at, don't provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training of the Lord, that's training, that's participatory.

You now have young adults who understand what's involved. Understand what the costs are. They've tried and they failed in some ways. They've had the responsibility to make a decision that could really hurt them.

But they knew it was their decision and they knew it was responsibility. And sometimes, you don't give them an opportunity to hurt themselves really bad, but you give them opportunities that can be painful. And they'll learn from that, just like you and I, learn from that and have learned from that.

We need to have children then who appreciate all of those who are contributing to their life, because through responsibility and participation, they learn that. They learn that.

We need also, as part of the Second Great Commandment, to appreciate our spouse, to be thankful for our spouse, not just occasionally, but very thankful. If we look here in chapter 5, verse 33, Nevertheless, let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself.

There's no domineering there. There's no dominating. There's no better and more just great.

No.

Love your wife as yourself.

If we pause there just a moment and start thinking about wife and women, if men would pause for a moment to not think about themselves, they would be just amazed at the ability and the contribution that women make. First of all, every one of us is here because of a woman.

And that's not something any man can do, but even that process is a process when God gives a woman that opportunity that is amazing.

And her sacrifice involved in that for the first nine months and then the second nine months, and every nine months after that, through the rest of her life, to that child, is incredible. And not just to the child, but to the whole family. And her ability to manage and handle things is just incredible. Any of us men that would stop and think about that would be so appreciative. And in some ways, we feel very small because we're sort of the one thing at a timer type as guys.

And that's wonderful. That's great. And there's some things we need to accomplish. And those can be overblown sometimes as being the most important. But meanwhile, the wife is managing everything else.

And this comes very clearly when you look at an entire continent like Africa. And you see the women really make the entire continent work. And the men basically talk about it and sit around. It becomes very, very obvious. And then if you step back into your own culture, you can begin to see that as well in certain elements. But let's go to Proverbs 31 and verse 1.

I find it interesting that a woman evidently had to bring this to our attention. Proverbs 31 and verse 1. Because not too many men would sit down and ponder this.

It's kind of a societal secret to men. Proverbs 31 and verse 1. The words of King Lemuel. Okay, so they're the words of the king, but notice the utterance which his mother taught him.

So here a lady is going to teach her son. If we drop down to verse 10. Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies. This is not some individual who is non-existent. Or you ladies have to sort of feel overwhelmed by what is said here. This is a typical woman, a typical wife. Her heart of her husband safely trusts her if he is a husband to her. That's the whole point. If he's loving and thoughtful and loves him as his own self.

In verse 12, she does him good and not evil all the days of her life. We talk about somebody who's so riveted on her man, while he has got wandering eyes to any and everything that looks attractive.

She seeks wool and flax and willingly works with her hands.

She's like the merchant ships and brings her food from afar. She rises while it's night and provides food for her household and a portion for her maidservants. She considers a field. You know, maybe she needs a supply of wheat. She goes and looks at the field and she buys it.

From her profit, she plants a vineyard. She girds herself with strength and strengthens her arms. She perceives that her merchandise is good. Her lamp does not go out by night.

You know, she's always working. Even on days off, even on vacation. Who's the one that's doing the work? She stretches out her hands. She extends her hand to the poor. Verse 20. She reaches out her hands to the needy.

And so on and so forth. And when we come down to verse 26, she opens her mouth with wisdom.

You know, many husbands don't think of their wives as the wise one. Because, you know, it's all about me and what I think and what my opinion is, you see.

But a woman grows in wisdom. And if you stop and listen to your wife and actually apply what she says, you'll find that she is probably giving you some really important advice about what to do next.

On her tongue is a law of kindness. A woman who is kind and thoughtful and helpful, she has the right type of verbiage, if she has been treated well, will be openly kind. I think all of us as husbands, we can look at this and just marvel sometimes.

Wow, I wish I could talk with that kind of grace. I wish I could communicate with others in that easy, loving bond. I wish I could express myself like that.

Verse 27, she watches over the ways of her household.

You know, a woman not only gives birth to a child, takes care of the child, but cooks for the household, cleans for the household, and might also have a job outside at the same time, and be looking after other people and caring about them and being on the phone, while the wash is going. It just goes on and on. It's just marvelous.

Now, in verse 28, her children rise up and call her blessed. Why? Well, because a woman like this is engaging her family, engaging through participation.

Any of us who had a mother that was concerned for us when we were little, we were not just being told, we were doing ironing for the family. We were involved in participating in household chores, not because we were little slaves, but because we needed to be responsible adults and know how to do all of those things and to cook and to clean, as well as, if you're a man, the outside chores. But her children rise up and call her blessed, and her husband also, and he praises her.

Many daughters have done well, but you exceed, excel them all.

Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised, give her the fruit of her hands, and let her own works praise her in the gates. She should be thanked. She should be admired. And in a male kind of society that is all about things like sports, that really is not that meaningful as far as any contribution to the quality of life, you have the females who often are carrying the load in society on so many levels, but are not appreciated for it. So, as we see in Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 33, to love your wife as himself is followed by, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

There is a pause to think about and appreciate and come to understand what men go through, what contribution they strive to make on many different levels, and when that is done in an appropriate way, it is supposed to be met with appreciation, with thanksgiving, with thanksgiving.

Thankfulness, though, is a sacrifice. It is a sacrifice. When we stop to be thankful, we find that people generally aren't and they don't recognize these individuals who contribute to their lives because they are self-centered. We don't think about the garbage person who picks up our garbage and lives in a world of smell because we just don't want to go there. We don't want to think about our parents and what they went through with the exotic smells we gave them for so long, and the challenges and the expense and the diversion of their time and energy to us, because it's all about me. We could say that over and over and over. Yet, with God's Holy Spirit, we are to lay down our lives for others, including our thoughts. We're to stop and pause. We've already heard that we're supposed to pause and think about God. Children are supposed to pause and think about parents. Spouses are supposed to pause and think about and appreciate each other. And this pausing, to be thankful, is a sacrifice.

You cannot sacrifice to yourself. Well, many try it. False religion tries it. The sacrifice of praise often is turned back on oneself. It is actually, in Christian worship music, for instance, you take God and you reduce Him. You take His name totally out of any praise, remove it, and put you. And then you put yourself as the focus. And it's about you and me. You make me. You make me. And I. And you. Me. And me I. And we try to worship ourselves. We try to sacrifice, as it were, but we're sacrificing to ourselves. That doesn't work.

In Hebrews 13 and verse 15, let's see what the sacrifice that we should be, that time, that attention that we should be saying, I'm not going to give this to myself. I'm going to give this to God. Let's see what that should be like. Hebrews 13 and verse 15.

Therefore, by Jesus Christ, let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God. That is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. If we consider the statements involved in this verse, by God, through His Holy Spirit, interacting with our self-centered minds, let us continually, not once in a while, not on Saturdays, continually offer a free will sacrifice. A sacrifice is a loss that I choose to make. I choose to lose time and energy and focus off myself, to praise God.

And that is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. His name, not just Him, giving thanks to God, His name, to God, to Jesus Christ, giving thanks to them. And there's more. There's more to this. You can't just go through life saying, oh yes, thank you, thank you, thank you. Verse 16. But do not forget to do good and share, for with such sacrifices, God is well pleased. So let's think about that. But don't just stop at the praise of our lips and our thoughts. Don't forget to do good and to share.

Sacrifice for your fellow man also. See, that's a chosen sacrifice. It's a reciprocating.

It is paying it forward. God has done this for you. Your parents have done this for you. Friends and family and others have done this for you. Your boss has done this for you.

The state, the government has paved the roads for you. You've gotten electricity and natural gas at your house. You've got water. You have all these things. It says here, don't forget to do good and to share to others. For with such sacrifices, personal loss, God is well pleased. That is how we participate. It's just like the parents teach the child. Participate. God now says, all right, be thankful to me, but you also participate. You now get involved in giving and sharing and doing good to others. Giving, thanks, and participating helps us see the sacrifice. It helps us see more than just the benefit. I guarantee you, if somebody comes up to you and gives you a gift, let's say they give you, I don't know, this thing. Well, that's nice. Well, that's nice. Uh-huh. And, well, I got it. Fine. You got a gift. And what are you going to do with this gift? Well, probably doesn't matter a whole lot. Didn't cost you anything. You're not involved in it. You might use it a few times. You might drop it. Oh, well, you know how that goes. You might, you know, not care for it. After all, it was free. It was a gift. And so it is. You don't tend to see the benefit if somebody's always giving to you. You don't understand. Somebody hands you a piece of salmon. Says, hey, caught a fish. Have some salmon. That's great. You got a piece of fish. And here's what will typically happen. You'll forget to put it in the fridge. Or you're going shopping and your car's warm. And you don't bother to buy ice. And by the time you get it home and you remember the salmon, you might say, huh, honey, I don't know if we should eat this. Don't worry about it. You know, it didn't cost us anything. Not realizing what it costs and what all is involved to go get a salmon, you know, to get up early and to have the expense of the equipment and the cost of fuel and then the cost of the boat and then your time and you're freezing to death sometimes out in the sea. And it's not comfortable and it's dangerous. And sometimes a wave will roll over you or your boat. And sometimes there's a lot of issues and sometimes there's repair and your engines suck up some rocks and stuff and the impellers and, you know, by the time you get this thing back and you give somebody a piece of salmon, there's a lot involved in that. There's a huge amount involved in that. And I guarantee you salmon that somebody catches is about three times higher than you can buy it in the store. Fresh wild salmon.

That's just the reality. Okay? Now, it's kind of like your parents giving you something or somebody else giving you something. If we don't participate in that, you see, then we don't realize what went into it. When we participate and we also are giving, then we begin to realize the value of what others do for us when they bring you maybe a meal when you need it or they invite you to join them or they give you a gift. You begin to realize that, wow, there's a lot involved in some of these things.

Every person has what I would call a well within us. You'll identify with this. It's where our store of things is. It's where our thoughtfulness is, our generosity is, our hospitableness is. And we have a certain well. This hospitable and generosity and thoughtfulness also has some things that we can share with those. But it's a certain well. It's like a bucket. Typical scenario is you empty that bucket when you serve. You give your money or your things or your flower or your time and you give and your bucket kind of gets empty. And then you feel like, oh, I've served now. I feel like I've given. We've been hospitable. I'm kind of worn out. You're emptied.

If you receive thanks, it begins to refill the well. Somebody says, well, thanks. That meant a lot. Oh, wow, I'm finding some more generosity here in my bucket. Well, that was really special, all the work you put in there. Oh, well, I think I'll throw some more time back in that. I'm finding more time in my bucket, you see. But if the individual is not and they just sort of take it and leave, it's like, wow, it leaves your bucket empty. The well is left empty.

And unfortunately, I think all of us can look back at a time when we were young, at that time where our compassionate, hospitable thoughtfulness hadn't developed well. And we can find a whole lot of individuals who gave to us, and we didn't realize the sacrifice they were making. It was just really nice. Oh, that was nice. And then later on, after we did it to others, did it for others, we began to realize, wow, what a little vacuum cleaner I was taking everything, you know, from everybody. And what did I actually leave in people's buckets or their wells?

Sadly, thoughtlessness extends through life as society is less and less mature. And that's the point of this adolescence and early adulthood, that the maturity is a thoughtfulness and an awareness of compassion for others. But in a society that is more about gaming and more about thrills and more about what you can take and not even bothering to marry, but get all the benefits you can and get all the money and all the excitement, you see, people never grow up, especially the men. And so consequently, the maturity isn't there.

We find that it's kind of like food. The ladies can appreciate this. Men will take this for granted, but ladies can appreciate this. It comes home very clearly. Mary sometimes will watch a British baking show where people in the community will be chosen. They enjoy cooking and baking, so to be chosen is to compete against each other at a fairly complex level. They're kind of in over their head from the beginning. But the thing is, sometimes they'll have something they have to bake for five hours. And it's a very complicated thing. They'll bake for five hours. But what always moves me is, if I'm watching or if I come in, I'll see at the very end the judges come up. And just like you and I would, they'll cut a piece, take a bite, and they'll say, eh, that wasn't so good. This part was good. But it's going down so fast. What they made is just, you know, in a few bites, it's just destroyed. A knife, you know, just five hours of work, and it's destroyed and eaten so quickly. And the response is, well, you know, that wasn't very good. What does that do to an individual? It's the same with God in Psalm chapter 50 in verse 14. Psalm chapter 50 in verse 14.

You know, whether it's someone making a meal, hopefully we all contribute to that. And we know what it's like to wash dishes. We know what it's like to cook. We know what it's like to clean up after cooking. We know what it's like to manage a whole bunch of things in stoves and ovens and on grills. And we can appreciate what other people are doing because it does get consumed rather rapidly. Just in a few minutes, it's gone. Notice here in Psalm chapter 50 in verse 14. Offer to God thanksgiving and pay your vows to the Most High. We might insert, then you can call upon Me in the day of trouble and I will deliver you and you shall glorify Me. See, God has a well too, and He wants that well to be full. And if we thank Him, and if we, when we make a vow to Him, if we are obedient and we come through with that, then He says, yeah, well, and when you do that, then My well is filled. Call on Me in the day of trouble and I will deliver you and you shall glorify Me. The opposite would be, don't thank God, don't have any appreciation for God, and then call upon Him in your day of trouble and see what happens. God appreciates being thanked. We find in Luke 17 and verse 10.

Luke 17 and verse 10. This is actually a trait of the Godhead.

Let's start in verse 11. As it happened, He went to Jerusalem, passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.

He met ten men who were lepers who stood afar off.

And they lifted up their voices and they said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.

So when He saw them, He said, go and show yourselves to the priest. And so it was, as they went, they were cleansed. Hadn't even gotten to the priest. They were cleansed of leprosy. Do you know what it's like to live in a leper colony? I tell you about it, but I not live there, so I don't know. But from what I hear, it's not good. You are really a class of people that no one wants around, and you have limitations as to what you can do. And evidently, you're going to be falling apart as life goes on. So when they were cleansed, verse 15, one of them, when He saw that He was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God. He thanked God. He fell down on His feast, giving Him thanks. And He was a Samaritan.

So Jesus answered and said, Were there not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Why haven't they come back? Why haven't they thanked God?

It's the same with spouses, friends, parents, teachers, bosses, authorities. It's a spiritual matter. Isaiah 1 and verse 2. Isaiah 1 and verse 2. People are always happy to come to say, A night to be much observed, enter. Show up and eat and walk out. You know, what is that about? Human nature. It's about me and food. But what about helping out? What about all the work that goes into that? What about the effort? What about, like I mentioned a while ago, food goes down fast.

The preparation takes a long, long time, and the planning, etc., etc.

Afterwards, maybe the individuals involved ask, Was it worth it? I remember a few years ago, an event happened just like this. And the members came in, and they essentially used the love of the other members who served them and went home. And all those who served and those who worked were taken for granted, not appreciated, didn't really get to be involved that much in the meal itself.

Conclusion was, it wasn't worth it. Let's not do this again.

In Isaiah 1 and verse 2, it says, Here, O heavens, and give here, O earth, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's crib, but Israel does not know. My people do not consider.

My people do not consider. They don't take the time to sacrifice the thoughts about the giver, their thoughts, to put them on the giver.

Alas, sinful nation, people laden with iniquity, the brood of evildoers, children who are corruptors. They have forsaken the Lord. They have provoked anger. The Holy One of Israel, they've turned away backward. Why? They didn't appreciate their parent. They didn't appreciate their God. They didn't consider. In Psalm 107 and verse 8, we are taught that we need to consider. And a bit of a lament here in the Psalms, Psalm 107, we'll begin in verse 8.

O, that men would give thanks to the Lord for his goodness.

See, it's not a human tendency, not a human trait, to give the sacrifice of thankfulness.

But, O, that men would give thanks for the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men. For he satisfies the longing person's body. He fills the hungry person with goodness.

I was in a grocery store this week, and I was on my way home, and I asked, Mary, what would you like to... what do you need from the store? She said, well, one thing I need is celery. So, I was in there buying celery. I was holding this celery, and I thought, oh, this is interesting. You know, we don't eat a lot of celery, but she's going to make a soup, and the soup called for celery. I thought, you know, just take the moment here to appreciate celery. Celery has a unique taste. It's not a taste you use in a lot of dishes, but when it comes to this particular soup, it needs celery, the taste of celery. And God made celery, just so we have the celery taste for when you need celery. And then you start looking around at all the other tastes, all the other vegetables, all the other fruits right there in that department. God has made all these wonderful things, and He fills the hungry soul with goodness, and oh, that men would give thanks to God and appreciate that He made all of these individual special things. Thankfulness requires one to shift from me to extol someone else, and that requires sacrifice.

In Philippians chapter 2 and verse 3, we find that we are, as God's children, to shift our thoughts off of ourselves and onto others. Philippians 2 and verse 3 says, Let nothing, nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit.

This mind of God is not to be taken on a trip of self-promotion, ignoring others, ignoring God, ignoring others, not appreciating them. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit. But in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than himself.

Yes, esteem others. Take time to think about others and think how they are better than you are.

It's the opposite of I, me, and my. Let's go to Hebrews chapter 10, verse 24. Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 24.

Talking to the church now, and let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works.

We are to think about others and be thankful for them. Thankful of them. You know, when I pause and think about the members in the church, each one, I look to see what special contribution they make, what special thing that they contribute to the family, because we're all brothers and sisters. What about this family do they contribute? That we can look at each other as better than ourselves. And then, as we consider them, to stir up that appreciation and then good works for one another.

Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some, but exhorting. Exhorting means to call near, to invite, to console one another. And so much more so as you see the day approaching. So this body of Christ is stitched together by each member appreciating, loving, and contributing the share that God gives us.

In the last days, as we know, in 2 Timothy 3 and verse 1, dangerous, perilous times come because men will be lovers of themselves. And it's all about me. But that's the mentality of Satan's society. And Jesus Christ is coming with a bride to replace that society. You know, we have a feast that we observe every year about thankfulness. Can you name it? The feast about thankfulness. Thankfulness for a gift that someone gave us. That someone really went to a lot of effort to give us an amazing gift. And of that gift, Jesus said, do this in remembrance of me. Remember me. Think about it. Appreciate it. Be thankful. Come to the Passover service in a thankful mood. Not think about yourself. It's not about remembrance of your sins. This is remembrance of my gift and what all I have gone through to give you this gift. When we look through Scripture about things that people in the Bible were thankful for, they include these, not exclusively. Thankful for God's holiness, the goodness and mercy of God. The gift of the Messiah. Thankful for Christ's power and reign. Thankful for the working of the Word of God in us. For the ministry. For the deliverance through Christ from sin. For victory over death and the grave. For wisdom. For courage. For triumph. For the gospel. For the conversion of others. For the faith that others have shown. For the love that others have shown. For God's favors. For zeal that people have shown. For the nearness of God to us. For the supply of our bodily needs. For food. For endurance through trials. Thankfulness for God's giving of the essentials of life to us.

As it says in Ephesians 5 and verse 20, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are to be thankful because we stop and we participate and we're involved and we understand what's involved. And thus we can be part of that process of loving and serving and giving, sacrificing of our time and the things we have. In conclusion, a thankful mind indicates a person who thinks about and appreciates others. It's interesting to go into the greeting card section of a store and see rows of birthday cards for the self. Something none of us had any involvement in whatsoever. But it's about me, and so that which is totally meaningless, we celebrate. You know, a birthday should be about sending your mom flowers. But the section that's so small anymore is the thank you card section.

Very small section of appreciation. It's hard sometimes to even find a card that fits what you're wanting to be thankful for. And so that indicates the hallmark of the age in which we're in and where we're headed. David will conclude with stopped often to think about God and what God does. You can read the Psalms and how thankful he is. And in Colossians chapter 2 and verse 6, we find the apostle Paul telling us about all these things that we have received in our calling should be met with thankfulness. Colossians chapter 2 and verse 6, As therefore you have received. Now we have received Jesus Christ, and that took a lot. That is a massive undertaking on God's part. But we have received Jesus Christ, so walk in him. See, that's not just receiving and saying thankful. No, that's walking in him. That's participation. That's having responsibility and exercising that responsibility and walking like him and sacrificing and giving to others, as we see in 1 John 3 16. Verse 7, Rooted and built up in him and established in the faith as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. Brethren, are you thankful? How thankful are you? Are we thinking of others? Are we appreciating others? Are we putting God and our fellow man in the forefront of our thoughts and deeply appreciating them and loving and serving them?

If so, then we are developing more of the mind of Christ. Let's learn to be thankful in all things.