In the course of a lifetime, you will receive much advice. Some you sought, some you didn't. Some good, some bad. Some advice givers are not as wise as you may wish, or as they think they are. But if we are wise, we will be very selective from whom we seek and take advice.

As we again celebrate Thanksgiving Day, this advice from King David is good advice: "Bless the Lord O my soul, and forget not all His benefits" (Psalm 103:2). You can take this advice seriously. Being in the Bible, it is God inspired. Also, David knew a lot about life, he had lived it to the fullest. He knew the pain of threatening experiences, committed sin, and yet through forgiveness, a closeness with God. The Book of Psalms, written almost in entirety by David, is a favorite of many because it captures the gamut of human feelings and emotions. We can identify with David's distresses and learn from his abiding faith in God to protect and deliver him.

There is perhaps no better way for us to truly celebrate Thanksgiving than to make a list of all God's blessings to us. It will take time and effort which we think we cannot spare. And besides, isn't just thinking about them enough just as good?

No, writing them down is much better. It forces you to clarify, express and remember longer. To express our blessings in written words makes it a meditative experience.

In both the Old and New Testaments, giving thanks to God is often urged. God is blessed by a grateful heart expressing thanks, but it is for our benefit also. It builds faith by reminding us of His past faithfulness to us. It confirms His love as we realize how bountifully He has expressed it to us in simple everyday ways. Since it is difficult to be thankful and depressed at the same time, it encourages us. It relieves our fears for the present and future, when we identify and thank Him for experiences in which He has cared for us in the past. There are few single things, perhaps none, that can so benefit us than naming specifics and giving thanks to God. It is more therapeutic than a general, "Thank you God for ALL YOUR BLESSINGS."

There is another bit of wise advice for Thanksgiving worthy of our consideration. It is not from the Bible nor some wise old philosopher. Rather it comes from the mind and lips of a young child. When asked by his elementary school teacher to tell the class what he had to thank God for one Thanksgiving, he replied, "I will thank God for all the thing I don't have that I don't want."

Good idea to make a list of these things also: the sight, speech or hearing you have not lost, the terminal disease you have not had, the crippling accident you have not experienced; the hunger or homelessness you have not had; the anxiety and depression you have not suffered; the persecution because of your faith you have not sustained.

You may not be able to put some of the above or others on your list. You have undergone the undesirables. If so, take heart, you have been blessed in a special way. How? By having the occasion and opportunity to learn one of life's most valuable truths: Only when you come to the point in life where all you have is God, do you discover that God is all you need.

(Dr. French O'Shields, a Gaffney native, is a retired Presbyterian minister.)