One route to the top of Helvellyn , a mountain in the English lake district, goes along a narrow path on top of a ridge called Striding Edge. (shown here).On either side of this ridge are steep slopes of hundreds of feet with crags and loose stones called a scree. If you slip down it you may slide down for hundreds of feet, with difficulty stopping yourself. You could end up very seriously injured.
What has this to do with thanksgiving?
Well if we read the first chapter of Paul’s letter to the Romans we can get the idea. Paul describes a progression in verses 18 to 23: people suppress the truth and they don’t acknowledge God although His attributes are clearly to be seen in and around them, they don’t honour Him, their thinking becomes futile, so although they claim to be wise they become fools. Their focus moves from the glory of God to the glory of man, they exchange truth for a lie and worship man instead of God. Consequently a whole lot of unpleasant things happen in their thinking, feeling, talking and behavior that really mess them up. These are listed in verses 29 to 32.
And what is a major mis-step on that slippery slope? Verse 21 “Although they knew God, they did not glorify Him, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts”.
If we wanted to be negative we could spend time thinking about all the injuries we could sustain if we fell down the steep rocky slope listed in verses 22 – 32. Or we could spend our time thinking about the splendid strong fence that God has put up along the top of the high ridge, on the road of life, heading to a splendid summit with a glorious view (like Helvellyn) – our pilgrim’s progress. And that fence is? Glorifying God and being thankful.
Sometimes I have noticed that people react when it is suggested that they should thank God in their circumstances. They indicate that this “prescription” is too simplistic and ignores the difficulties, threats and complexities of their situation. Somehow we feel the answer or way through must be more complex than just simply thanking and praising God and trusting Him. Indeed it may be, but the point of Romans 1 is that thankfulness is a vital step and a very important foothold too.
The fence on the cliff edge may be simple but it is a strong one that is there to stop me sliding down a slippery slope where I could experience all sorts of negative thoughts, feelings and consequences. Walking along a high ridge involves taking care of each step and likewise regular thanksgiving as I walk through testing times helps a great deal to keep my feet from slipping. Staying safely on the high ground with thanksgiving, I am in a much safer and better place to walk forward with the Lord through the difficulties and complexities of my life. Look at Habakkuk 3 – its no accident that verse 19 ‘He…makes me walk on my high places’ comes after verse 18 ‘I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation’!
There is something in our human nature that makes it very easy for us worry about the future. Jesus knew how we tick when he said ‘don’t take anxious thoughts about tomorrow’, Matthew 6:34. We can be very good at peering over the top of the cliff at all the things that could go wrong. God has provided a wonderful fence for us to utilize. Paul describes it in Philippians 4:6 “Be anxious for nothing (don’t play with fire – like careless children on the edge of a cliff or steep scree) but in everything by prayer….with thanksgiving” (utilize the fence that God has given us). It may sound simplistic to some, but then fences are quite simple things that help us keep safe on high places. Let’s take our lead from Naaman, (2 Kings chapter 5) who after the initial huff and puff, did the simple, humble thing and bathed in the Jordan 7 times, and give ourselves to thanksgiving ‘day by day’ on our journey of life.
