Giving Thanks, a Christmas Adventure – Day Nine

 

We can blunt the devil’s effective and constant bombardment of our minds with the daily challenges that come with real world living and feast with God at the same time by learning to take our trying, frustrating, and/or heartbreaking moments and give thanks in them. This is the Living Thanksgiving that feeds our souls! It’s a defense against the devil’s schemes because eucharisteō is the door of divine friendship.  We can see this mighty rich lesson in the thank offerings instituted in the Old Testament and found in the 3^rd and 7^th chapters of Leviticus.  It’s there we learn that the thank offering fell under the category of a peace offering (Leviticus 7:12, 7:15, 7:30) along with the free will, fellowship, or wave offerings. I know! Our eyes gloss over when we read a book like Leviticus, but stay with me. We can’t afford to miss this lesson from what we might otherwise consider dry and boring reading: While the sin and atonement offerings were mandatory, the category of offerings that included the thank or fellowship offering was completely voluntary, signally willing devotion. That preaches all by itself.

God left it to the individual to give thanks, voluntarily, to demonstrate his or her devotion. Salvation is mandatory, we must repent and believe in Jesus to be saved, but thanksgiving remains a voluntary act on the part of the believer. We disdain it, belittle it, shrug it off and neglect it at a huge cost to our own souls.

In ancient Israel thank offerings were given for favors received or before requests for future blessings were made. In other words, the Hebrews would not come with a request without offering thanks first! You’re looking at one of my life goals!

The Hebrew children met with God, through a priest, over the body of an animal.  We meet with God, through Christ our Eucharist, over our voluntary offerings of acknowledgement and gratitude! By our thanksgiving we acknowledge our dependency, and express our devotion for Christ’s eternal sacrifice.

Here’s another delicious morsel for you to consider. Sin offerings were wholly burned and consumed by the fire, but peace offerings, thank offerings, and fellowship offerings, these were divided between the altar of God, the priest, and the one bringing the offering. This is the table of Eucharisteo, signifying forever that it is in thanksgiving for Christ’s finished work and our access to God through Him that we feast together at His table.

Oh, the beauty of that symbolism! Self-centeredness starves the soul. The world’s top psychologists have produced studies proving that doing for others satisfies the soul, producing health benefits, even if they can’t explain the why behind the process. God can, and God does. Scripture shows that our spirits are literally fed through thanksgiving.

Let’s learn to give Him our voluntary praise and thanksgiving for past blessings, thru Christ our peace offering, as we plead for future blessings, for He himself says these sacrifices are more pleasing to Him than that of slaughtered animals!  Sacrifice is God’s love language. The Living Word spoke it on the cross by making the supreme sacrifice that allows us to live in Him. New Testament believers, we offer God “the sacrifice of thanksgiving” (Ps. 116:17) and “the sacrifice of praise” (Heb. 13:15), from grateful hearts—and through them He feeds us.

More evidence of this feasting with God is found in the first chapter of Malachi. It’s addressed to priests and according to the New Testament, that’s you and me, believer!

6 “‘A son honors his father, and a servant his master. Then if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is My respect?’ says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests who despise My name. But you say, ‘How have we despised Your name?’

(That was rhetorical, for God answers His own question) “You are presenting defiled food upon My altar.

But you say, ‘How have we defiled You?’ (God answers again) In that you say, ‘The table of the Lord is to be despised.’ (Again, despised means belittled, disdained as unimportant, or irrelevant.)

God calls the altar His table! The unbelieving will never enjoy God’s fellowship, but nor will believers who refuse to bring Him their choicest, heartfelt thanks! Did you hear Him say that because we disdainfully sniff at this altar, this fellowship table, He won’t accept our offerings? That should sober us.

We’ve talked about how we are born wanting acknowledgement. Father says, acknowledge me, and I will feed you beyond your wildest dreams. He wants to feed us at the altar. The acknowledge me syndrome that has us always looking to the world for affirmation, He wants us to turn and acknowledge Him, and let Him tell us who we are. Savor these words from the Amplified version of Matthew 11: 28-30

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavily burdened [by religious rituals that provide no peace], and I will give you rest [refreshing your souls with salvation].  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me [following Me as My disciple], for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest (renewal, blessed quiet) for your souls. For My yoke is easy [to bear] and My burden is light.”

There is satisfaction for our souls in eucharisteō.  Meditate on that and I’ll see you tomorrow.

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