By Jonathan Keller
Thanksgiving comes and goes. Carb-induced naps fade into memory as Thanksgiving dinner leftovers disappear. Black Friday and Cyber Monday blast our senses with consumerism just in time for the spending frenzy during Christmas to begin.
How are we to keep up thanks-giving when all signs tell us to consume?
Spending from Gratitude
A common marketing technique to whet our appetites for The New Stuff is to hone in on a sense of lack. You don’t have the next Christmas ornament. You don’t have the newest John Deere 5000 model. You don’t have the Best Computer On The Market. You don’t have, you don’t have, you don’t have.
Advertisements appeal to our senses of hunger and novelty to create desires we may not have had before the advertisement!
In this moment of desire, it is most appropriate to wield thanks-giving.
If a commercial says, “You don’t have,” you can respond with, “But I do have!” You may not have the Soda Stream that may save you 50 bucks on sodas over 10 years, but you do have a growing pallet for water and delicious fresh fruits. You may not have the latest Christian self-help book that will finally get you to clean up your house, but you do have plenty of other books waiting to be read!
Whatever you possess now is what God has permitted you not only to have for yourself but also a product bought by your own labors (if you work) or those of another (if you don’t work). Both the thing and the labor are gifts from God, and to Him belongs thanks for, at the very least, permitting you to own the thing you have.
A Life of Gratitude
Psalm 111 mentions “studying” the works of the Lord, focusing our minds on the many wonderful works of God in creation and toward His people. Part of that study involves recognizing His great benevolence toward all creatures, human or non-human, Christian or non-Christian.
A cursory glance at your own body’s reliance on outside energy will teach you that you are deeply dependent on God’s daily provision through many means. Gifts are all around us if we have eyes to see them, and the Creator who reigns in heaven bestows good gifts both to the righteous and the unrighteous.
Take time to catalogue all of the things that are yours yet outside your control. Does your body function well today? Does your house have some sense of order or supply? Does your work function at any level of quality? Thank God for these things, and repeat the exercise tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after.