The Thanksgiving Solution – The Kingdom Curriculum VII (4)

The Thanksgiving Solution

“You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain…” Exodus 20:7; Deuteronomy 5:11

“And speak to the people of Israel, saying, Whoever curses his God shall bear his sin.” Leviticus 24:15

Watch that mindless curse.

Sometimes, in unguarded moments, we may find ourselves guilty–or close to it–of taking the Name of the Lord in vain.

“God, why did you let this happen!” How many times have we heard that, or thought it, or maybe even said it ourselves? Why is that whenever things go wrong in our lives, it’s always God’s doing? Yet whenever things go right, or at least tolerably well, we seldom take the time to thank Him? We act as though the good things that happen to us are the result either of our cleverness or of good fortune. Or they’re just what’s due us human beings. But let things become unhinged, and immediately we start thinking that it’s God’s fault.

To blame God for evil, or to suggest that He is responsible for wickedness, is to curse the Name of God. God is good and loving. He certainly allows evil to happen, but He is not responsible for it. And the good He brings our way far outweighs whatever inconvenience or worse we’re made to endure. If we thanked God more for the good times, and the many daily blessings He provides, we’d be more ready to thank Him in the midst of the bad. In thanksgiving we take the Name of the Lord by faith, looking to Him in love, expressing our confidence in His sovereign goodness, and declaring our trust in Him and in His wisdom.

Let’s be careful that we don’t allow sudden disappointment, anger, hurt, or loss to lead us to curse God and take His Name in vain. Thanksgiving is the preventative for that.

Get your copy of The Law of God today, and begin making meditation in God’s Law part of your daily discipline. Go to www.MyParuchia.com, point your browser to “Publications,” then click on the drop-down option, “Waxed Tablet Publications.”

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore.

T.M. Moore is editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001,2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Editor’s note: The use of a translation other than the Authorised Version in an article does not constitute an endorsement in whole or in part by The Christian Observer.