How could I resist this poster for Thanksgiving week?
On January 6, 1941,
in his State of the Union Address, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared that
everyone deserved four fundamental freedoms - freedom of speech, freedom of
worship, freedom from fear, and freedom from want. At the time, the Axis
dictators stifled freedom of speech and worship, and conquered peoples lived in
great fear and want.
The United States was just coming out of the Great
Depression. People knew true want. More correctly, they understood true
need.
Now, even though we have an economic crisis, we still don't understand
true need. Our nation's primary health problem is not malnutrition, but obesity.
However, want still consumes us.
Freedom from want doesn't come from more
money, more things, more food. It comes from gratitude. It comes from
contentment. It comes from remembering those in need.
Thanksgiving is one
of my favorite holidays because it makes me pause and focus on the blessings in
my life. Stop and look around you and give thanks for all you see - your family,
the overflowing refrigerator, the possessions. Focus on what you have rather
than what you don't have, and give thanks to God for all the good things He
gives.
The Bible calls coveting a sin because at its root, coveting shows
dissatisfaction with God's provision. In His eyes, we look like children on
Christmas morning, surrounded by piles of opened gifts who say, "Is that all?"
Being content with what we have - even content in great need - shows God trust
and gratitude, and produces peace and joy in us. That's true
freedom.
Remembering those in need - through finances, food, gifts, time, or prayers - puts things in proper perspective, reminds us how
blessed we are, and spreads the blessing to others. A generous spirit is not
dissatisfied.
This Thanksgiving, how can you find true freedom from want?
Labels: freedom from want, Thanksgiving
