When the Israelites were getting ready to go into the land God had promised them, Moses told them they would prosper. They would have food, shelter, money, livestock, and just about anything they could desire. Then he cautioned them not to say “my power and the might of my own hand have gotten me this wealth” but to remember “the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth…” (Deuteronomy 8:17, 18)
That’s a caution well worth heeding. Yes, we may work hard and on the surface it looks like we earn our reward, but our effort would be in vain without God’s blessing. It is God who gives us the resources to accomplish and the strength to endure.
When the scripture says, “Remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives….” it is a subtle way of saying, “Give him thanks!”
When the Pilgrims came to a new land they had no allusions of thinking their survival was due to their might. Without the help of the Native Americans they would have perished. Even then it is said that in the first year they made seven times more graves than huts. Still when the harvest was in they gave thanks to God. They chose to focus on what they did have and be thankful for it, instead of focusing on what they didn’t have.
So many times we pray to God asking him for this or that. We focus on what we don’t have. Our wants and needs get blurred. As we approach another Thanksgiving Day, think about this: Saying, “Thank you” to God for what you have could be the most meaningful prayer you could ever utter.
Psalm 92:1 (KJV) “It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord…”
