[Message] Pastor Jung Myeong Seok
[Scripture] Matthew 11: 25-30, Psalms 100
25 At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.
26 Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.
27 “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
1 Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.
3 Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.
5 For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations
Hallelujah! I bid you the love of the eternal God and the peace of the Holy Son.
When you read about the central figures in the bible, you see that they were always grateful, thankful and appreciative towards God. Among them, David was extremely thankful and grateful. Because God helped him to overcome so many difficulties he said, “Thank you God!” He praised God while acknowledging how God had helped him. He didn’t preach merely to people, but he also instructed the nature and animals to be thankful and praise God. As a result of deeply realizing the Creator God, he was able to do that.
David was thankful even though Saul came after to kill him.
Saul should have awarded David for killing Goliath, a source of great trouble in Israel. Instead, Saul tried to kill David who was not guilty of any crime. How resentful and enraged would David feel toward Saul? However, David remained thankful despite the circumstances.
Abraham, the ancestor of faith, offered an altar of thanksgiving to God every day. Joseph, who was sold to Egypt by his brothers, was thankful when he was in prison. At that time, he was not in a high position, but he was thankful to God even in the midst of difficulties.
If you look at 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, Apostle Paul says, “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances.” This is the philosophy of Teacher Paul. In reality, he was not in a situation where he should be joyful and happy every day. People chased after him and he had to continually run away from them. He even had to be lowered down from a building in a basket in order run away from that place and save his life. He lived with his life on the line, yet he never complained about the situation. Instead, he encouraged other people to always be happy and say “Thank you.” He experienced tremendous suffering; however, he always lived a life of thanksgiving, regardless of the situation.
You too, do not be thankful only when you have a reason to be thankful, but be thankful every day, even when you think it’s absolutely impossible to be thankful. There is nothing better than thanksgiving.
People should make it their virtue to always be thankful, grateful, encourage each other and praise each other. We should live a life acting upon these two things: being thankful towards your brothers and sisters in faith and also being thankful to God. I pray that you will take care of each other, serve each other, respect each other, be grateful and thankful to each other and become one.
A miracle will happen when you are thankful, so I encourage you to be even more grateful and thankful as youwhilst working hard from now on.
