Thoroughly Thankful Thursday
Can you say you are thoroughly Thankful?
Truth be told, we can only answer those questions above if we live in the profound, mind blowing , too remarkable to be comprehended reality that the LORD (Jehovah) is the only God!
Quick notes:
Nehemiah 9 is a beautiful section of text that represent a picture of what would happen on a National Day of Confession of Sins among God's people the Israelites.
Verses 1-3 gives us a prelude of the preparation and sets us up with the characters involved in the ceremony. They had fasted and prayed; put ashes on their heads; Israel descendants separated themselves from foreigners; they confessed their sins and the sins of their fathers; and then their was a reading from the book of the Law of the LORD - listen for a 1/4 of the day (6 hrs); and spent another 1/4 (6 hrs) in confession and worship---
"Geez Louise", if only we could pull that off! (12 hrs of Reading the Word, Confession and Worship) Then boom, there's a shift in the service. See vs 3-4 The Levites take to the podium, and "cries out loud to the LORD their God". Following suit, another group of Levites to include some of the first , ushers the congregation to “Stand up. Blessed be the LORD your God from everlasting to everlasting.” (v 5) ... and as we would say today, "the worship got lit".
Verse 6 is the opening stanza of an explosion of praise and confession of who God has been, is and forever will be. Every verse that follows through to the closing v.38, are a bundling of dynamic energy and burst of electrical current to boost our Thankfulness. Look at our faithful God then, now and recognize how recounting these steps of faithfulness along with the Israelites- God's power, his preserving grace- it should make us thoroughly thankful.
I can only imagine the exuberance of worship, praise and Thanksgiving that erupted as the congregation was reminded of who is the author of their story. The Lord, the only God was (is) the one who gives life, who calls us, who frees us from captivity, who forgives, who loves, who preserves, who fights their battles and secure their futures.
"Blessed be His glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise."
Doesn't this make you thankful? Sister, I want to run and dance out of my clothes like the Psalmist did, bursting with thankfulness that the LORD is the same today as he was yesterday! This great news ignite a thorough (top of my head to the soles of my feet) thankfulness. In spite of my sins, even the sins of my father and mother- You Lord, have been faithful!
We are reminded of God's CREATIVE power and his ability to bring life out of nothing into something wonderful and useful for his own purpose and our God.
We see the GIVER of all life (man and animal)
We see a PRESERVING God, who not only creates but maintains the works of his hands.
We see that our God is to be WORSHIPED for his great power and his FAITHFULNESS to his people.
This knowledge (who God is and forever will be) is the source of our giving thanks always . This good news should make us thoroughly (head to toe) thankful and keep is thankful. It redirect our hearts to God as our source, for his is creator of life and giver of all good things. This news leads us to confession, setting aside/separating ourselves from all the things, people or things that can only provide a momentary sparks and fluctuations of thankfulness.
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