Are You Yet Thankful?

John 9:24 Then again called they the man that was blind, and said unto him, Give God the praise: we know that this man is a sinner. 25 He answered and said, Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see. 26 Then said they to him again, What did he to thee? how opened he thine eyes? 27 He answered them, I have told you already, and ye did not hear: wherefore would ye hear it again? will ye also be his disciples? 28 Then they reviled him, and said, Thou art his disciple; but we are Moses’ disciples. 29 We know that God spake unto Moses: as for this fellow, we know not from whence he is. 30 The man answered and said unto them, Why herein is a marvellous thing, that ye know not from whence he is, and yet he hath opened mine eyes. 31 Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth. 32 Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind. 33 If this man were not of God, he could do nothing. 34 They answered and said unto him, Thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach us? And they cast him out. 35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? 36 He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? 37 And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee. 38 And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him.

The holiday of Thanksgiving is over. They way they push it, Black Friday is now Black Thursday. People are more and more in a hurry. I praise the Lord for Thanksgiving Day. I’m surprised some aren’t trying to outlaw it. You can’t give thanks for nothing and you can’t give it to yourself. The holiday was instituted to thank God. It goes back to the Pilgrims who weren’t thankful to each other. They didn’t thank a turkey. They bowed their heads and thanked God. They helped found our country on gratitude.  Our nation has prospered because of its thankfulness to God. We have gone down too for lack of thanks to Him. To many people, thanks is as over in their hearts as the turkey is. It was once plump and took hours to fix. Now it’s over. The old turkey is nothing but bones. The carcass is in the trash, nothing like what you bought, fixed, and ate. 

God can’t bless a person or a nation who allows themselves to be only a skeleton of gratitude. The man in this story was born blind. He begged for just something to eat. He was nothing but a skeleton of a person until Jesus came by. He made spittle and put it on his eyes. He instructed the man to then go wash in the Pool of Siloam. He did and for the first time he saw water. He probably saw his reflection in it. Instead of running away desiring to see all he could, he stayed in God’s house long afterwards.

We don’t stay long enough with God. This man knew one thing and told the Pharisees. I once was blind but now I see. A man took his old eyes and gave them sight. He told the Pharisees that for a man to be able to do something like that he must be from God. Otherwise he could have done nothing. How much thanks do we give God? A simple thanks and then go our own way to wherever we want to go? We don’t think about it enough. We need to be more grateful. I need to pause and be more careful in what I do. God has given us the health to do what we need to do; we should be very thankful. Are you still thankful? Are you mindful everyday of what God is doing for you? We should be. We can have a spirit of thanksgiving in our hearts and minds as we go about our day. Continue to be thankful. Don’t stop for one minute to be grateful to God for all things.

How can we appreciate the bills? Well, if you get a bill it means you got something for it, something to be thankful for. The Lord provides enough money to pay for it. If you don’t have the money, maybe we all need a reminder to live within our means. We can’t blame God if there’s not enough money if we don’t do that.  Look at how many people are gone from us in the last 10 years. We miss them. We can’t go back in time so we should take the time now to hold someone’s hand and think about how blessed we are to have them in our lives. The time will come when one of you will be gone. Be thankful now, everyday. It’s a good day to be thankful!  Life is precious. Blessings are precious.

The man knew one thing and he was thankful. Jesus came by and made a difference in his life. “Now I see” was his response. He couldn’t understand it. It was marvelous that a blind beggar could see. What was their problem?  A man who could do such a thing must come from God, yet the Pharisees were heartless. They accused this sinful man of trying to teach them something. Don’t we all need to be taught from time to time. We all need a reminder to be thankful. Instead they threw him out of the temple. But he hung around outside. Jesus heard what happened and found him. He knows where we are. Jesus asked him Dost thou believe on the Son of God? The man wanted to know and said Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? Jesus said: Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee. And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him. Look what’s possible because of Jesus! I’m sure this man was thankful to the day he died. His last words were probably thanks to Jesus.

Here are a few facts about thanks.  Without gratitude we’ll never get anywhere. Without gratitude we cannot be right with God or serve him.  Without gratitude we may not receive anything else. He could cut us off right now because of our unthankfulness.  We cannot presume on his mercy and grace. We can’t keep complaining and not acknowledging the Lord. We need his help. All he asks is our thankfulness as we humbly serve him.

So….. are you yet thankful?