Today is 'Thanksgiving' in the United States and embedded in the day are many concepts. Thankfulness is just one of them. I personally think the attitude of thankfulness is vital. When someone is not thankful for whatever reason there is something truly lacking emotionally. It is a symptom of living in deception. God consciousness involves thankfulness.
I'm not saying this to condemn anyone. Truly. This day called 'Thanksgiving' may not fill you with joy for a dozen reasons and I understand.
My personal theme for some months has been hospitality and it has become a real source of thankfulness for me. I want to have a thankful heart. I think it is only right and good for God to look at me and see a thankful person but isn't 'natural' for some people. I would say most people. I need to stir it up in my heart and then keep doing it so it becomes a rhythm and pattern.
Today I thought of the burning bush. That bush was burning for Moses. Dry brush often caught fire in the desert but that brush would burn itself out quickly. That one bush kept burning and it caught his attention. He didn't walk straight towards it. The Hebrew suggests he made his way towards it in a roundabout way but when he got there God spoke and immediately called him by name, set up a boundary of movement and declared that the ground Moses was standing on was holy.
"When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, 'Moses, Moses!' And he said, 'Here I am.' Then he said, 'Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.' And he said, 'I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.' And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. Then the LORD said, 'I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.' " - Exodus 3:4-10 ESV
This was a visitation. It was a 'day of visitation' and I see hospitality written all over it. I'm sure Moses never forgot that day and thought about it again and again. Moses wrote Exodus. I read it now and this encounter has become mine. It is like a treasure map written by someone long ago but now I have it in my hands. I look for familiar landmarks and match them to my surroundings.
Thankfulness is the treasure.
I sit here stirring myself up and counting my many blessings moving from physical things to relationships. I think of events and possibilities and moments in time. I sift through the sand to find shells knowing that if I could look at that sand through a microscope the sand itself would appear wonderous in its varied shapes and colors.
God visits men. I am so thankful for that.
I hope you have a wonderful day today and hope above all things that your heart is filled with thankfulness or at least that you start on a path for that to happen.
Jesus is our burning bush. You can't extinguish His love. Do you see Him? Make your way over to that light. He is burning for you.
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