the heart of thanksliving

Written by Aaron Klein

Aaron Klein is a church plant pastor in the Reformed Church in America, a denomination with deep roots in the US and a strong emphasis on mission around the world. He served at a church in Pennsylvania for nine years before God called him and his family into the new and exciting journey of church planting. His passion is to be a be a catalyst in the church planting movement that nurtures radical followers of Jesus Christ, that builds authentic communities of believers, and who genuinely loves others in word and deed. His desire is for the exponential growth of the church of Jesus Christ, and believes that will best happen when churches start churches who start churches. He is honored to be married to his high-school sweetheart and has been blessed with four beautiful children. Together they reside in Lakewood Ranch, FL.

November 22, 2011

[serialposts]With Thanksgiving right around the corner, it got me wondering if I’m a pretty ungrateful person. The reason I need to pose that question is because when I reflect on my prayer life, am I the kind of person who spends a fair amount of time counting my blessings, or is it really a once a year affair? You see, when I think about this church planting call that God has put upon my life, the blessings of family and faith, and the abundance of food that’s going to be on my table this week, I realize I have much for which to be thankful. That is if I stop to remember.

I wonder if the blessings of God have somehow lost their significance and power for me. Why? Perhaps a part of the problem is that God’s blessings have become so commonplace in my life that I now fail to see it all together. And the result is that I have become apathetic…even expectant of it. I wonder and worry if an ungrateful attitude has crept in; and that instead of thanking God for each breath that I take and for each beat of my heart…have I come to expect God’s blessings, as if it’s something I deserve?!

Perhaps the other part is that I have some pretty strong tendencies toward self-reliance. Instead of relying on God and asking for His blessing as I follow His will; it’s easy to get caught up relying on my strength and expecting God to bless my efforts. But I don’t want to live that way. I want to live in hopeful anticipation of His blessings, but not in arrogant expectation.

But a reading of 1 Timothy 6:6-19 reminded me of a couple of things, and over the course of the next three days, I’d like to share some of those thoughts: Contentment, Kicking Complacency, and Counting our Blessings.

3 Comments

  1. Anonymous

    We ar e a very self -reliant peoples. It’s embedded in our American ethos. That’s why Thanksgiving is really kind of passe….Thank you, yeah, yeah, yeah….But I’ve go it under control. Your article really has me thinking

    Reply
  2. Scott

    Excellent read. Thank you God for being so good to us. You alone are our ultimate source.

    Reply
  3. Mikes Sumondong

    Guilty 🙁 Same with you, let’s take this time and everyday moving forward to give due to recognition to the one who deserves it. Merry Christmas by the way!

    Reply

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the heart of thanksliving

by Aaron Klein time to read: 2 min
3