This Thanksgiving, Be The Telescope!

I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving.(Psalm 69:30)

I read a devotional this week John Piper wrote about the verse above.  He made the point that there are two kinds of magnifying.  You can use a microscope to magnify something small to make it appear larger, or you can use a telescope to try to begin to see big things as big as they really are.

When David offered praise to God and thanked Him for all that He was doing in his life, he was serving as a telescope to others, revealing to them how big and how great God really is.  As Christians, we are all called to be telescopes.

I've never thought of gratitude as a telescope before reading Mr. Piper's devotional.  But that's exactly what it is.  I've enjoyed following many of my friends on Facebook who've used the month of November to share different aspects of their lives that they are grateful for.  As they've given thanks for these things - magnified them - we've all had the opportunity to share in some pretty grand things going on in the lives of those around us.  

There's something very healthy about that.

It's not always the case, especially on Facebook.  I don't know why, but many days we seem to be more content playing the role of the microscope.  We hone in on the smallest of things, magnify them to the point where they irritate us and leave us feeling ungrateful, and then share our findings with the rest of the Facebook world, which by the way is now just slightly smaller than the size of the real world. 

Thanksgiving is always a great time to pull out our telescopes.  We make lists and openly share the things we are grateful for.  This Thanksgiving I think I'll just keep mine out, occasionally point it at the sky and begin to see the awesome God I serve as big as He really is.  And every once in awhile, I'll lower it and swing it around and magnify the world around me - and be reminded of just how many big things there are in my life to be grateful for.

If you have taken time out of your busy day to read this, you are no doubt one of those big things. I wish you the happiest of Thanksgivings.