Lessons

Be Ye Thankful. In the Colossians study, we saw that the Apostle Paul was expressing that we be thankful for everything the God the Father has done for us in His son Christ Jesus. We often take that for granted and forget that we should be thankful. What is being thankful mean? Noah Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary contains the greatest number of Biblical definitions given in any reference volume. Webster considered “education useless without the Bible”. Noah Webster believed that the Bible and Christianity played important roles in the lives of a free people and its government. “In my view, the Christian religion is the most important and one of the first things in which all children, under a free government, ought to be instructed…. No truth is more evident to my mind than that the Christian religion must be the basis of any government intended to secure the rights and privileges of a free people….” If we look “thankful” up in Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary, we find: thankful – THANK’FUL, a. Grateful; impressed with a sense of kindness received, and ready to acknowledge it. We have so much to be thankful for! Paul understood this and if you look at all the scriptures where he expressed “thanks, thankful, thanksgiving” you will see he understood this truth. In 1 Timothy, 2:1-4, we are told that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks should be made for all men especially for kings, and all that are in authority. Why? We find out in verse 4. God desire is that all men would be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. John 14:6 (KJV) says “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” Noah Webster understood this when he said “No truth is more evident to my mind than that the Christian religion must be the basis of any government intended to secure the rights and privileges of a free people….” Thank God for Christ! And thank God for the veterans that protected the freedoms we have here in America… the freedom to read the scriptures, and study them so we are approved unto God. The lesson on November 11, 2007 celebrates Veterans Day. You may also want to “Be Ye Thankful” lesson handout download the handout to review while you listen.