I grew up in Argentina, a country where people do not usually say thank you. Argentines are known around the world for very unpleasant things. An old saying says that “If you want to do the deal of the century, buy an Argentine for what he’s really worth and sell him for how much he thinks he is.” That’s a sweeping indictment!
I had a personal experience that relates to this. When I first came to America in 1985, I had to learn to say, “thank you.” When people asked me if there was a festivity that resembled the American Thanksgiving, I used to say “No, because I guess Argentines don’t have much to be thankful about.” After I graduated from Moody Bible Institute, I stayed in America working for a ministry and I decided to bring my dad to America. He had never left Argentina and I made an enormous sacrifice to do that. I flew him to Miami, then we went to Disney World in Orlando to the Disney parks. Then we flew to San Francisco, where I was living at the time. We drove down to Los Angeles, so he could see Southern California. I paid absolutely everything. Friends of mine picked him up at the airport, had him for dinner because they were my friends. A couple from Miami even met him at the airport there and gave him money because he didn’t have a penny on him.
Never, never, after all the effort, did he thank me or any of the people who went out of their way to help him enjoy this once in a lifetime trip. I don’t recall him being a happy man. There was always something.
As we get ready to celebrate Thanksgiving, the words of Paul in Colossians 3:16-17 come to mind: “Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.”
Paul was in prison when he wrote this! He probably saw the end of his earthly life in the horizon. And yet, twice in this passage, he talks about being thankful. Even more, he told others to be! How could he do that? I believe the reason he could be thankful was that the message of Christ, in all its richness had filled his life. Because of that, he had a thankful heart. And because of his thankfulness, he could be glad despite the circumstances.
My sincere desire for us all this Thanksgiving is the same. I hope that the message of Christ, in all its richness will fill our hearts so we can celebrate this holiday with true thankful hearts. Happy Thanksgiving! Be glad!
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