I heard a sermon on the radio a while back that impressed me. The minister was saying that God does not get chills down his back when He hears “The Star Spangled Banner.” He’s not impressed.
Really? He proceeded to explain that what pleases God is when His creation looks to Him for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness ... e.g. when we put Him first.

We as a nation haven’t been doing that, have we? We have pushed Him away, essentially telling Him we don’t need Him or even that we don’t believe He exists. We have consequently ignored the admonition to raise up our children with a knowledge of Him, giving them little daily opportunity to practice and understand the incredible relationship available to us all.

The Supreme Court case in 1962 (Engel Vs. Vitale) was the hallmark case that removed the saying of a prayer in the public schools. It was that decision from which all of the subsequent court decisions were made concerning prayer, showing that government is not neutral toward religion but rather is hostile toward it ... especially the Christian religion.
Bad move. It wasn’t a good choice for us if we were to be a people who desire to please God.

In 1980 (Stone vs. Graham) the courts stopped the posting of the Ten Commandments in public schools. Their reasoning?
“If the posted copies of the Ten Commandments are to have any effect at all, it will induce the school children to read, meditate upon, perhaps venerate and obey the Commandments. This is not a permissible state objective under the establishment clause of the First Commandment.”
Again, not a good move for us if we wanted to please God.

Then, in the 1973 decision case (Roe vs. Wade) the court sanctioned the killing of unborn children. Since then over 50 million children have been torn from the womb.
“A society that if the 50 million children who have been killed in the last 50 years had been allowed to live and grow up and become productive citizens, they would have added anywhere from 35 to 50 trillion dollars to our gross national product ... and if they had been allowed to grow up and live and contribute to society, there would be no Social Security crisis nor a Medicare crisis. They would have been paying into the system. You cannot slaughter 20 percent of your population, no nation can, without severe economic repercussions.” (Lamplighter Magazine, November and December 2013)

Of course, the most heinous and disastrous result of abortion is that of destroying our society’s children ,,, our blessing in the womb. All you have to do is look at history and see how God has dealt with nations that kill its children.
No sir. Wasn’t a good move for us if we wanted to please God.
There were more anti-God decisions in the years after these that I have mentioned.
No, God is not impressed. And He does not feel pleased. We are in big trouble.

But I have GOOD NEWS!
Thanksgiving is this coming Thursday. It is a day set apart in this nation to give thanks TO GOD for His bounty and blessings to us. No, it’s not the BIG economic event like Christmas is ... so it gets overlooked in the media ... but hopefully, NOT in the church. Everyone loves the idea of family, food, and a day off.
But for what purpose are we gathered and why is this day so important?

Thanksgiving Day is a day when we should meditate on our blessings and abundance. It’s an opportunity to turn things around. On this day (and hopefully every day) we should focus on the good in our lives, and how we as a nation have been blessed because we have believed in God and His laws.
God is pleased when we are thankful and tell Him so. That’s why He created us, after all. He wanted our fellowship, and we were created for that purpose.
This “purpose” of God comes with wonderful blessings when we are in fellowship with Him.
Do you have a warm house? Do you have enough to eat? Do you have clothes to cover your body? Do you have a roof over your head? Do you have health? Do you enjoy something or someone special in your life? Do you love someone? Does someone love you?
We can answer YES to more of these questions than any other nation on this earth. Do we realize this?

We have a marvelous opportunity to turn America around. A good start would be to reflect on our blessings, acknowledge our Creator, and thank Him for them. This is what pleases God.
I want to challenge you this week. Would you write down at least five things for which you are thankful? And then will you pray those “thank you” prayers at the table on Thanksgiving day? Don’t just “be” thankful. Thank God.
Some of you have never done this before. It’s time.
Others of you are afraid you will say it wrong. Don’t worry about that. Just talk to God. You will do it just fine. If you have a child among you, it may just be THE memory that will stay with him or her for the rest of his life. Words are powerful.
And some of us/you will be in a hurry and forget. But you can pause halfway through the meal. That’s OK. God isn’t offended with us when we are late. But, for the sake of our country, our future, our kids ... Please do this.

I am working on my list right now as I write this column. Funny how minor our disappointments and complaints become when we consider all that we have, and realize that He isn’t angry with us ...
He only wishes to be acknowledged and followed. A good beginning is to say “Thank you.”
Happy Thanksgiving.

Judi Tabler is a guest columnist for the Great Bend Tribune and her views don’t necessarily reflect those of the paper. She can be reached at bluegrasses@gmail.com.