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Living for What Really Matters
PHILIPPIANS
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Here in Philippians 1:3, Paul says he thanks God every time he thinks about this group of
believers. And he uses an interesting word for thanks: eucharisteo (εχαριστω; pronounced yookhar-is-teh'-o).
Does this word sound familiar to you at all? Why or why not?
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The eucharist is the celebration and remembrance of the Last Supper, which we do today by
taking communion. We can find this word throughout the New Testament—and every time, it is
used in conjunction with prayer. The Greek word eucharisteo literally means “to give thanks, to
be grateful, to feel grateful.”
When one of our Ethiopian sons joined our family at the age of almost seven, he renamed
himself Ezekiel. While we understood his decision—often adopted children choose a new name
to express leaving one season of life and entering another—we were a bit wistful about the change.
My husband and I adored the name his mama had given him: Temesgen (pronounced Tom-esgen). In Ethiopia, Temesgen means the overwhelming, deep adoration and thankfulness you feel
in your heart toward God. What beautiful and significant name!
This is the kind of thankfulness I believe eucharisteo points us toward. Thankfulness with
incredible depth and significance. One that consumes the innermost portions of our hearts and
spills out into the world around us.
Eucharisteo means “to give thanks,” and give is a verb, something that we do. God calls me to do
thanks. To give the thanks away. That thanks-giving might literally become thanks-living. That our
lives become the very blessings we have received.
I am blessed. I can bless. Imagine! I could let Him make me the gift! I could be the joy!
ANN VOSKAMP
How would you describe your feelings of thankfulness in your life and relationship with God? In
what ways could you move more toward Temesgen and eucharisteo thankfulness?
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Of course, maybe you feel like thankfulness just isn’t compatible with the difficult season
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