The Lost Bird

This is a pic of a WILD TURKEY roaming around the North End of Boston. We were in some of the craziest traffic at rush hour, in this corner that does not have a blade of grass in it, and is separated by water and bridge!

What on earth was this wild turkey doing here? It was quite bizarre. I had facebook comments like

Running away from Thanksgiving

Saving his life

Unthankful bird

The reality is - a lost bird can find himself in a dangerous place!

Turkeys are low fliers, so being here in the middle of town is certainly not a safe place. Except maybe from the Thanksgiving table.

I think we can be lost birds sometimes - lost birds when we have forgotten to be thankful people.

1. Ungrateful Go Lost

How many people have lost their way in life due to a heart filled with complaint and lack of trust!

One thing being ungrateful does is makes us lose our way and our trust in Jesus.

Can I mention a couple of passages out of the apocrypha this morning...

We do not accept the apocrypha as the Word of God, but that does not mean there may not be some wisdom found there...

Sirach 29:17 NRSV

17 and the ungrateful person abandons his rescuer.

HAH!

Jesus is our rescuer, but ungratefulness can take us from His umbrella of safety for sure!

Wisdom of Solomon 16:29 NRSV

29 for the hope of an ungrateful person will melt like wintry frost, and flow away like waste water.

Our hope is destroyed or melts away when we are ungrateful...

There is certainly truth in these two passages/ statements

2 Timothy 3:2 NLT

2 For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred.

It describes the last days, and most assuredly our generation on earth right now...

The reality of this picture is that of those who have so much they complain because they do not have more!!! It is the result of a “spoiled child”

I am not sure if the ungratefulness leads to lostness or our lostness leads to ungratefulness...

However, it seems the two go hand in hand.

Psalm 106:7 NLT

7 Our ancestors in Egypt were not impressed by the Lord’s miraculous deeds. They soon forgot his many acts of kindness to them. Instead, they rebelled against him at the Red Sea.

This talks about how the people of Israel become so grumpy and complaining quickly after departing Egypt - instead of grateful hearts for the Lord leading them out of their distress, they just saw the impossible instead of the possible.

Life will constantly come at us with challenges and changes and things less desired, but that does not mean we should forget all the Lord has done for us.

The Psalmist said in

Psalm 103:2 NLT

2 Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me.

What I see happen in the lives of people are is when they become ungrateful, unthankful, they begin to wander from their faith in search of something else to satisfy them...

They begin to look for other things than what God has provided for them!!!

They begin to abandon God’s plan in their unthankful ways.

2. Thanksgiving Brings Guidance

Thanksgiving is a form of acceptance and contentment in the moment where we may not understand everything going on!

1 Timothy 6:6 NLT

6 Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth.

Philippians 4:6 NLT

6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.

In our moments of “lostness” our thankfulness often invokes the answers we seek to find.

As we are thankful and appreciative of what God has done and is doing that we cannot see,

our thanksgiving becomes the platform of our surrender to HIS PLAN and our TRUST in HIS GUIDANCE

Proverbs 3:5–6 NLT

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. 6 Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.

Ungratefulness comes when we DON’t UNDERSTAND what we are going through - when we question God, complain to God and wrestle with our own attitudes,

When we surrender all of our misunderstanding to Him and trust in Him, His direction and guidance become clear...

Now, with the Lord guiding us, how can we be LOST BIRDS???

3. Thanksgiving is a Choice

1 Thessalonians 5:18 NLT

18 Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

Here we discover that Thanksgiving is not a feeling --- oh it is easy to be thankful when things are going smooth and wonderful - although there are even unthankful people then, thinking they are the source of their happiness...

But when the circumstance is rough??? We don’t feel like being thankful,

The temptation to complain and feeling of negativity can overwhelm our senses, but we have the ability to focus with our spirit man and choose THANKFULNESS

Often it is that choice that leads to our trust that brings back the direction even when we have lost our way...

Why?

Because thankfulness puts our eyes on the author and finisher of our faith - it causes us to LOOK TO JESUS

Hebrews 12:2 (NLT)

2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. ...

When our eyes are on Jesus - he shows us the way!

Conclusion

So, this Thanksgiving, DON’T BE A LOST BIRD!!!

Find your way in Christ,

Find His plan for your life

As you are Thankful, your trust will grow, and He will guide you, don’t be afraid, don’t worry - be THANKFUL - the choice is yours!