Thanksgiving

"As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord,

so walk ye in Him: rooted and built up in Him,

and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught,

abounding therein with thanskgiving."

- Colossians 2:6-7

 

 

Thanksgiving and its hustle and bustle of preparation has passed. Many travel long distances to celebrate with family and friends, enjoy a wonderful meal, and spend a few minutes filling out notecards with things they are thankful for. Today, however, most will return home and go back to their normal routines. 

 

As Christians, gratitude and a thankful heart are not to be limited to a holiday that comes once a year. Our lives are to be characterized by thanksgiving year-round. The Apostle Paul exhorts us to "in everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you" (I Thessalonians 5:18).

 

Wait a minute. In everything give thanks?

 

Well, that's what Scripture says. Note, however, the Apostle's wording: not "for" everything but "in" everything. As believers, we can always find something to be thankful for, no matter what circumstance we find ourselves in.  In her book Choosing Gratitude, Nancy Leigh DeMoss writes, "True, Christ-centered, grace-motivated gratitude fits everywhere, even in life's most desperate moments and difficult situations." That's because it's not about us, it's all about Him and what He has done for us.

 

Salvation is one of God's great gifts that we can never be thankful enough for. "Being humbly thankful to God for our salvation - the most undeserved transaction in our personal history - is the starting point for the purest form of gratitude: God-ward, Christ-centered gratitude" (Nancy Leigh DeMoss).

 

Thank you, Lord, for saving my soul.

Thank you, Lord, for making me whole.

Thank you, Lord, for giving to me

Thy great salvation so rich and free.

- Seth and Bessie Sykes

 

I am so thankful that the Lord came down to earth to die for me and save me by His amazing grace. My sins are forgiven, and I now live as an accepted, beloved child of God (Ephesians 1:18, Galatians 3:26). In light of what the Lord has done for us, our lives should be characterized by gratitude -- an outpouring of the grace we have received.

 

In addition to salvation, the gift of every spiritual blessing in heavenly places (Ephesians 1:13), and the gift of all things that pertain to life and godliness (II Peter 1:3), we have many other things to be thankful for. A few of the gifts I am thankful for this morning...

 

- salvation and the assurance of eternity with Christ

 

- God's faithfulness, mercy, and lovingkindness

 

- my wonderful parents

 

- my best friends: my brothers and sister

 

- my dear grandma

 

- the friendship and fellowship of sisters-in-Christ

- books

 

- a warm, cozy house that shelters from the icy wind and snow blowing outside

 

- my iPhone (I don't know what I would do without it!)

 

- my laptop and its host of amazing software programs that allow me to write, edit pictures, do graphic design work, chat with friends via webcam, blog, email, and earn my degree

 

- music and the ability to use it to share the gospel, minister to others, and honor the Lord

 

- my piano

- my violin

 

- a car that runs well and gets good gas mileage

 

- our adorable, affectionate puppy

 

- a day at home with my favorite people in the whole wide world

 

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above,

and cometh down from the Father of lights,

with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning."

- James 1:17

 

What are you thankful for today?