VERK, Marty, "Things to be thankful for,"

Internet e-mail, December 15, 1999

An appreciative review by Robert Brow,    www.brow.on.ca,      December 1999


 

THINGS TO BE THANKFUL FOR

The mess to clean after a party because it means I have been surrounded by friends.

The taxes I pay because it means I have an income.

A lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning, because it means I have a home.

All the complaining I hear about the government, because it means we have freedom of speech.

My huge heating bill because it means I am warm.

Aching muscles at the end of the day because it means I have been productive.

The lady behind me in church who sings off key because it means I can hear.

The piles of laundry and ironing because it means I have clothes to wear.

The alarm that goes off in the morning because it means I am alive.

Getting too much e-mail because it means friends are thinking of me.


Marty Verk belongs to a Messianic Congregation, and he has captured the ancient Jewish voice of thanksgiving in song. (Psalms 7:17, 9:1, 10:6, 30:4, 12, 26:7, 50:14, 23, etc.). The New Testament is equally Jewish. "Be filled with the Spirit, as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything" (Ephesians 5:18-20).

Jewish people viewed thanksgiving as a sacrifice (Psalm 50:14). And Jesus was thoroughly Jewish when he gave thanks knowing he was to be crucified the next morning. "Because it means humans will be saved by my death and resurrection." Which is why the Christian communion service is called the Eucharist (which means thanksgiving). In the verse "Those who bring thanksgiving as their sacrifice honor me" (Psalm 50:23), it seems that it is those who are thankful who have faith. You obviously can't give thanks to chance, or matter, or energy, or even your computer.

Could it be that from God's point of view humanity is divided into those who are thankful and those who refuse to be thankful about anything?


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