The day after Thanksgiving means turkey sandwiches! But, here\u2019s a little secret. If you want to cheat, you can get the best turkey sandwich in the world almost any day at Schat\u2019s Bakery in Bishop, California. See the photo above for proof. The turkey is carved right before your eyes, and the bread is fresh from the oven. Ummmm! (Photo from Yelp.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nScripture calls us to a life of gratitude, not just a day. Colossians 3:17, for example, urges: \u201cAnd whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.\u201d Everything we do and say should have two basic characteristics. First, it should be done \u201cas a representative of the Lord Jesus.\u201d The original Greek reads more literally, \u201cin the name of the Lord Jesus.\u201d This does mean \u201cas his representative,\u201d but it also suggests that we are to seek his agenda and to be committed to his purposes.<\/p>\n
Second, we are to do and say everything, \u201cgiving thanks\u201d to God the Father through Jesus. This doesn\u2019t mean that we are to stop every action and every conversation in order to offer a literal prayer of thanks to God. Rather, we are to act and speak thankfully. We are to live each moment with an awareness of God\u2019s grace at work in our lives and in the world. Sometimes we will express our gratitude to God or to others. But even when we\u2019re silent, we are to receive all of life and do all that we do with an awareness that we are living by grace.<\/p>\n
Living thankfully gives God the credit he deserves, and that\u2019s sufficient reason to do it. But living thankfully also transforms us. It gives us a deeper appreciation of life. It steers us away from focusing too much on ourselves and our struggles. It enables us to see God\u2019s presence even in hard times. It motivates us to live each moment of each day for God and his glory. Pervasive thanksgiving enables us, therefore, to \u201cglorify God and enjoy him forever.\u201d<\/p>\n
So, even though it\u2019s not officially Thanksgiving Day anymore, let\u2019s continue hear the exhortation of Scripture: \u201cAnd whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Yesterday was Thanksgiving Day, a day set apart by the U.S. government so that Americans might express their thanks. I think it\u2019s a fine thing that the United States (among other countries) sets apart a specific day for gratitude, even if this day is often more devoted to football and feasting than to actually giving […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":109,"featured_media":4777,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16607],"tags":[17123,21655],"class_list":["post-4776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-thanksgiving","tag-thankful-living","tag-thanksgiving"],"yoast_head":"\n
A Week of Thanksgiving - Thanksgiving as a Way of Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Yesterday was Thanksgiving Day, a day set apart by the U.S. government so that Americans might express their thanks. I think it's a fine thing that the\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/2012\/11\/23\/a-week-of-thanksgiving-thanksgiving-as-a-way-of-life\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Week of Thanksgiving - Thanksgiving as a Way of Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Yesterday was Thanksgiving Day, a day set apart by the U.S. government so that Americans might express their thanks. 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<\/a>