Thankful "Have-nots"

Deuteronomy 8:10 (ESV)

“You shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land He has given you.”

You hear a lot in our world about the divide between the “haves” and the “have-nots,” between the wealthy and the poor, between the 1% of the world that has most of the world’s wealth and the 99% who get the rest.  Now I am not trying to play down these concerns.  But it struck me this week that the idea that I “have” anything is an illusion.  I was packing for an overnight trip with my brother in-law Dean.  I was thinking about the fact that I needed to pack very little for this trip.  Other than my CPAP machine I packed everything I needed in my backpack.  Then it hit me.  “You think you are taking very little on this trip, wait till you die.  On that trip you get to take only what you “own” - which is absolutely nothing. 

The idea of “having” things, of “having” anything, at least in the sense of owning something is an illusion.  You and I don’t own anything.  The homes we live in, the clothes we wear, the money in our wallet, the cars we drive, the food we eat, our jobs and even the ability to work –  everything is a gift from God.  None of it belongs to us.  It all belongs to Him.  He gives to us or perhaps we should say, He loans to us “everything we need to support this body and life.”  I am a Have-not.  We all are.

That is such a important realization for each of us.  It is the soil from which grow thankful and generous hearts. Think about what Moses wrote in the verse from Deuteronomy 8.  He didn’t write, “You shall bless the LORD YOUR God for the good land” you have.  No, Moses wrote, “You shall bless the Lord your God for the good land He has given you.”  Everything we have is a gift from our Father in heaven. Thanksgiving is not the sum total of your possessions.  Thanksgiving is the fruit of how gracious, generous and giving God is.  No matter how much or how little you or I have been given, there is reason for thanksgiving. His gifts are all more than we could ever deserve.  We are “thankful have-nots” - every one of us. 

Let me take that one step farther.  That fact enlarges our understanding of how one gives thanks.  Giving thanks becomes more than a few words in prayer or in worship.  It becomes the act of giving to others as generously as God has given to you and me.  The word is thanksgiving after all. It’s amazing isn’t it?  When we look at the stuff in our lives as things we “have”… as ours – then we become defensive about the whole idea of giving – because “it’s mine. You can’t keep asking for what’s mine.  My resources are limited.”  That’s all changes when we realize that we have nothing, and that we are cared for by the God whose resources are limitless. All our stuff is a gift from Him and there is always more in His storehouse.  Trusting Him and His giving heart, we are free to give… to give generously to others as He has given to us. The greatest compliment a parent can be given is to see their son or daughter trying to be just like them.  The greatest thanks we can offer to God our Father is to love and to give as He has given to us.  That’s the joy of being a “thankful have-not.”