Jesus had quite a few things He did constantly. He was always going to the synagogue on the Sabbath Day. He was always compassionate with those society cared little about. He spent a lot of time in solitude with just He and the Father, fellowshipping and talking. One thing we see in the Gospels that was a habit of Jesus was His giving thanks to God. I won’t write out these passages but will give you the Bible addresses so you can look them up. Matthew 15:35-37; Luke 22:18-20; Luke 24:30-31; and John 11:40-42. There are more passages where Jesus gave thanks, but these prove my point. Jesus had the habit of saying blessings or giving thanks all the time. I think His giving thanks to the Lord was a central part of His daily life. Let’s do a little exercise in our minds. The turkey on your holiday table, where did it come from? Grocery store. Where did the grocery store get it? Farm. Where did the farm get it? From the previous generation of turkeys. How far back do turkeys go? To creation. When the first turkeys were created, how did that happen? God. If we trace things back far enough, it is always God we find that has blessed us. Let’s take the thanksgiving habit of Jesus and place it in our lives daily. I’ll go so far as to say give thanks multiple times daily. It will do our souls good and produce joy inside if we’ll be people filled with gratitude. The Holiday Season has arrived. It is my prayer that each of us will let it be a season to constantly thank God for His goodness and blessings to all of us. I want our homes to be “gratitude factories” that are always affirming the greatness of our God. I thought I would share a little humorous poem I came across a few years ago. It probably describes a lot of us, myself included, about mid-night after a Thanksgiving meal or Christmas meal.

‘TWAS THE NIGHT OF THANKSGIVING

T’was the night of Thanksgiving,

But I just couldn’t sleep.

I tried counting backwards,

I tried counting sheep

The leftovers beckoned,

The dark meat and white,

But I fought the temptation with all of my might.

Tossing and turning with much anticipation,

The thought of a snack became infatuation!

So I raced to the kitchen,

Flung open the door,

And gazed at the fridge full of goodies galore.

I gobbled up turkey and buttered potatoes,

Pickles and carrots, beans and tomatoes.

I felt myself swelling so plump and so round,

Till all of a sudden, I rose off the ground!!

I crashed through the ceiling, floated into the sky

With a mouthful of pudding and a handful of pie,

But I managed to yell as I soared past the trees

HAPPY EATING TO ALL,

PASS THE CRANBERRIES PLEASE!!