I am learning to be thankful.

To give thanks and offer thanks. It seems it is a lost art in our culture, especially with our political world and an election on the horizon.

Just a simple thank you.

But let’s go a little deeper.

When was the last time you just thanked God for being God. Not for what He does for you, or did or is doing. But just thanking him for being Him.

I have been doing this great praying and writing the scriptures of Thanksgiving that my friend Candance at http://www.mercyisnew.com compiled. I am writing, praying then actually digging into the original Greek or Hebrew of words in the scripture.

Today, was Matthew 26:26. “And as they were eating Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said “take, eat, this is my body”

We normally take this verse as part of our communion, where we drink the ‘blood’ and eat the ‘body’ of Christ.

But I think this was to be a daily time of thanksgiving and remembrance, not just an Easter or Christmas thing we do.

The word body in the text is the word Soma (so-mah). It means as a sound whole, substance, different from flesh, but soul or spirit, the whole man.

So think of this as you daily ask – to take and eat the entireness of Jesus, (not his flesh) but his spirit, his soul, the wholeness of him.

It really puts our thankfulness in a different place since now we aren’t asking for the bread as in the flesh (which really has been hard to understand or explain right?), but for the entireness of Jesus to be what we partake of.

God, as I take this bread (the word) that you have given me, I ask that you bless it with all that you are, and want for me, I take and eat of your wholeness, your substance, soul, spirit, I take and eat of your whole being, so that I can in turn offer thanks to you, because you are God.