I'm Thankful for Teachers

Each day until Thanksgiving, Everyday Truth is looking at a different reason to be thankful in a family devotional. Use these devotionals with your kids to help keep your family focused on giving thanks. If you missed the introductory post, check it out here for directions on creating a "Thanksgiving wall." When you're done wiht the devotional head on over to the Everyday Truth Facebook page and join in the discussion of why we're thankful for God's creation.

I love to learn new things. Just last night, I learned how to make a new recipe for dinner. I didn't have a person teach me. I learned it by following the directions in my cookbook. I could read the directions because a long time ago someone taught me to read. I could follow the directions because when I was a kid my mom taught me how to cook.

God gave us brains that can absorb and remember information. Our minds let us learn new things, but without someone to teach us how to do things, we would be lost.

There are lots of teachers in our lives. Can you think of a few? You have teachers at school and at church. But did you know your coach, the person who teaches you to play piano and your dance instructor are all teachers, too? Your parents and even your brothers and sisters can be teachers, too. Anyone who takes the time to teach you something is a teacher.

God made us all with special gifts and talents, and He wants us to use those gifts and talents to share with others. Jesus was the ultimate teacher. Matthew 11:1 tells us "After Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in the towns of Galilee." Jesus spent much of his time teaching other people about what God wanted them to do.

Think of the people in your life who have taught you about Jesus. Those are important teachers in your life. There's no more important thing for us to learn than to learn what God wants us to do. And God wants us to be teachers, too. He wants us to teach other people about Jesus.

Be thankful today for the people in your life who are teachers. Be especially thankful for those people who have taught you about Jesus. Thank God for all the teachers he has put in your life. Write the names of those people on your Thanksgiving wall. Be sure to tell some of those teachers thank you in person, as well.