“…Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.”
Matthew 14:19
Still challenged to explore the depth of thanksgiving I checked the dictionary for the meanings of the two words thanks and giving. The dictionary defines thanks as a verb meaning to express gratitude, appreciation or acknowledgement. Giving was defined as a verb - to present voluntarily and without expecting compensation. So we could define “thanksgiving” as expressing gratitude and appreciation as a gift without expecting anything in return. This seems like a good definition to me when it comes to giving thanks to God. The dictionary defines thanksgiving as the act of giving thanks; grateful acknowledgement of benefits or favors, especially to God. It would seem that being thankful and being generous goes together like oh I don’t know turkey and stuffing or mash potatoes and gravy.
This week’s passage relates an early incident of Jesus giving thanks for food and then giving that food to his disciples, who in turn gave it to a multitude of people. It was a miraculous meal. One of the things I like about this particular narrative is that this miraculous meal is sandwiched between two different sorts of storms. Jesus was trying to get away to a solitary place following the news of John the Baptist’s beheading. The loss of a loved one is always a high magnitude storm. Jesus wanted to get away for a bit – but when he got to the other side of the lake there was a huge crowd waiting for him so he set aside his personal need for a time out and cared for the people including giving thanks and giving them a meal. In the midst of that storm he practiced thanks and giving.
Jesus eventually gets the alone time he was after – only it left him “stranded” because he had sent his ride on its way to the next destination. He deals with this situation with another miracle taking a walk on the waves in a wind storm – fancy that.
So when you say thank you to the Lord for all of the amazing things He has done for you on the mountain tops and in the valleys of life give it as a gift thanking Him for who He is not just for what He has done. Then when you are done saying thanks, why not give something to someone else to share the blessing. It doesn’t have to be a big thing – maybe give away smiles or hugs, those are free. What about starting a pay it forward trend in the Starbucks or McDonalds drive thru or maybe buy a meal for someone who is hungry. Imagine what would happen if every follower of Christ gave thanks to God and then gave just one meal to one hungry person – it would be a miraculous meal as more than 2 million people would get to eat.
Thanks and giving are meant to be together.
A Prayer
Father, thank you for the example your Son set for us – first giving You thanks and then feeding the multitude, then by thanking You and giving Himself for us. Acts of thanks and giving that resulted in breath taking miracles. Help us to open our eyes and hearts to the world around us – show us where we can give after thanking you for your many blessings. In the name of Jesus, we pray – Amen.
Matthew 14:19
Still challenged to explore the depth of thanksgiving I checked the dictionary for the meanings of the two words thanks and giving. The dictionary defines thanks as a verb meaning to express gratitude, appreciation or acknowledgement. Giving was defined as a verb - to present voluntarily and without expecting compensation. So we could define “thanksgiving” as expressing gratitude and appreciation as a gift without expecting anything in return. This seems like a good definition to me when it comes to giving thanks to God. The dictionary defines thanksgiving as the act of giving thanks; grateful acknowledgement of benefits or favors, especially to God. It would seem that being thankful and being generous goes together like oh I don’t know turkey and stuffing or mash potatoes and gravy.
This week’s passage relates an early incident of Jesus giving thanks for food and then giving that food to his disciples, who in turn gave it to a multitude of people. It was a miraculous meal. One of the things I like about this particular narrative is that this miraculous meal is sandwiched between two different sorts of storms. Jesus was trying to get away to a solitary place following the news of John the Baptist’s beheading. The loss of a loved one is always a high magnitude storm. Jesus wanted to get away for a bit – but when he got to the other side of the lake there was a huge crowd waiting for him so he set aside his personal need for a time out and cared for the people including giving thanks and giving them a meal. In the midst of that storm he practiced thanks and giving.
Jesus eventually gets the alone time he was after – only it left him “stranded” because he had sent his ride on its way to the next destination. He deals with this situation with another miracle taking a walk on the waves in a wind storm – fancy that.
So when you say thank you to the Lord for all of the amazing things He has done for you on the mountain tops and in the valleys of life give it as a gift thanking Him for who He is not just for what He has done. Then when you are done saying thanks, why not give something to someone else to share the blessing. It doesn’t have to be a big thing – maybe give away smiles or hugs, those are free. What about starting a pay it forward trend in the Starbucks or McDonalds drive thru or maybe buy a meal for someone who is hungry. Imagine what would happen if every follower of Christ gave thanks to God and then gave just one meal to one hungry person – it would be a miraculous meal as more than 2 million people would get to eat.
Thanks and giving are meant to be together.
A Prayer
Father, thank you for the example your Son set for us – first giving You thanks and then feeding the multitude, then by thanking You and giving Himself for us. Acts of thanks and giving that resulted in breath taking miracles. Help us to open our eyes and hearts to the world around us – show us where we can give after thanking you for your many blessings. In the name of Jesus, we pray – Amen.
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