Several weeks ago I came across this picture that has this bird taking a step. On the picture there’s this text that reads, “November is like the Thursday of the year, everybody’s just waiting for it to be over to get to Christmas.”
What it’s saying is that, when you have a work week, Thursdays seem to take so long, when you really just want to get to Friday. I think all of us have felt that. We’re looking forward to the weekend, because we’re going on a trip, maybe seeing friends, we might be doing a project at the house, or maybe we’re just doing nothing and that’s what we really want. Friday we’re looking forward to, but Thursday is just the last day before the good stuff happens.
The country singer Alan Jackson has a song called “Good time,” where the opening verse sings,
“Work, work all week long
Punchin' that clock from dusk to dawn
Countin' the days 'til Friday night
That's when all the conditions are right for a good time
I need a good time”
Or like Geroge Jones sung,
“It's finally Friday, I'm free again
I got my motor running for a wild weekend
It's finally Friday, I'm outta control
Forget the workin' blues and let the good times roll
Yet what happens when Sunday comes around and the thought of going back to work comes in, and we get those Monday blues? And again we go through the week with Friday in view and Thursday becomes that get here and get done with it day again, because I want that good stuff that comes with Friday.
November is like that too. Christmas is right around the corner. Even before Halloween is done, Christmas trees, lights, and decorations are being put up. Everyone’s getting excited for the holiday season of gifts, just like they get for Friday.
Alan Jackson might have sung, “Countin’ the days ’til Christmas night.” Or Maybe George Jones might have sung, “It’s finally December.” Because the sentiment is the same, let’s get past this week, past this month and get to the thing that brings me happiness, satisfaction, fun.
But what’s crazy to me is that, in my experience, when we finally get to that thing we’ve been looking forward to, the thing we looked past other things for, the satisfaction that it brings doesn’t have nearly the impact we want it to. We always need the boost of Friday to get us to the next one. So, we’re unsatisfied for at least four days out of the week, then we get to Friday and half the day is spent dreaming about clock out time, then we get Friday night Saturday, and maybe Sunday morning, before we start dreading the week ahead. At most we’re getting two out of seven days of satisfaction.
A while back there was an analysis done by Gallup Research group that found that American happiness was on a decline from previous years (https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/02/politics/unhappiness-americans-gallup-analysis/index.html). Only about 1/3 of people were happy with their lives. Even though we have greater access to food than at any time in human history, even though we have greater access to wealth and information, than at any time in human history, and even though we have more opportunities for leisure time than at any time in human history. The reason I believe that this is the case, is because we’re always looking forward to satisfaction, but we’re by passing being thankful for what we have in the days or months in the lead up to that Friday, or to that Christmas.
When someone asks me what is God’s will for my life, there can be a lot of answers to that question. One answer comes from 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. Paul, a man that had been attacked by crowds, hit with stones, shipwrecked, bitten by snakes, and brought to the brink of death several times, penned these words, “Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” Rejoice always, not just on the weekends. Pray without ceasing, not just in trouble times. And give thanks in all circumstances, not just when the bad times are over.
This is why we celebrate the holiday of Thanksgiving. It was a celebration birthed out of being thankful to God for his provision. When we take time and celebrate Thanksgiving, we’re taking time to recognize, no matter how bad the world is, there are things to be grateful for. When we do that, everyday becomes a Friday, and every month becomes a December. And when we thank the Creator and Savior who has both created this world for us to experience and enjoy, and who has laid down his own life to fix the relationship that we ourselves broke through sin, then everyday becomes purpose filled, and it’s only then that we experience true satisfaction. As Paul also penned, “I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. 12 I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. 13 For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. (Philippians 4:11b-13, NLT).”
If you’re feeling like you’re moving from one Friday to the next, from one high to the next, and your life is a roller coaster of peaks and valleys, let me tell you that in Jesus there is satisfaction. We’re like cars, running on empty, getting just enough of a fill up to get to the next gas station; we need a full tank and that can only come through Jesus.
This Thanksgiving, if you haven’t sought God to be Savior in your life, you’re missing out on true satisfaction. We cannot hope to find anything in this world that brings us past living Friday to Friday, it’s only in Jesus does that happen, and it starts with a realization that we have looked to other things for our happiness. We have done things to satisfy ourselves and in the process have hurt others. Lying, cheating, stealing, are just some of the things we do, to try to gain satisfaction at the expense of others, these things are called sin. Jesus has provided the way to break the need to try to bring ourselves joy, by providing true joy. This starts with being truthful with God in a simple prayer, and continues in learning to walk in his satisfactory way for the rest of our lives. After this, if you want to start that journey of being satisfied in Jesus, I’d like to have a talk with you on how to live in the satisfaction of God.
When we come to the realization that Jesus is the only one that can satisfy, then everyday of the week becomes a Friday to look forward to, and every month becomes a December. Let’s start this Thanksgiving, were we begin to give thanks to the Creator and Savior for that he has done, so that we may experienced the satisfaction he has in store for us. Amen.
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