Thanksgiving
“It is therefore recommended to set apart Thursday the Eighteenth day of December next, for solemn Thanksgiving and praise, that with one heart and one voice the good people may express the grateful feelings of their hearts and consecrate themselves to the service of their divine benefactor.”
Samuel Adams,
I guess we can officially add Thanksgiving to the list of holidays whose true meaning has been obscured by the world. As we gather together with family to celebrate Thanksgiving, don’t be so occupied with food, family, and football (that’s my toughest one!), that you forget about the many ways that God has blessed you. What does the Word of God have to say about being thankful?
1 Thessalonians 5:18
18 in everything give
thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
This is not one of my favorite verses. I wish it said, “in everything you like give thanks.” But if we truly recognize the grace of God, we’ll be thankful even for the things that seem to be tragedies and difficulties, knowing that God has our best interests in mind. You all know the story of Joseph, and how he was sold into slavery by his brothers. His answer to them later is one of my favorites:
Genesis 50:20
20 "As for you,
you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring
about this present result, to preserve many people alive.
If we truly appreciate the grace of God, then we will be thankful even when people mean evil against us, knowing that God has something good for us in mind as a result of it! Remember that especially this holiday, when your cousin steals the last helping of squash casserole, only because you wanted it.
I love this passage on thankfulness:
Colossians 3:15-17
15 Let the peace of
Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and
be thankful. (How can we possibly
be thankful in everything? The answer is in the next verse)
16 Let the word of
Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing
one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with
thankfulness in your hearts to God. (How
do you know if you have truly reached this point? Is the next verse true?)
17 Whatever you do
in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks
through Him to God the Father.
My prayer for all of you this Thanksgiving is that you can put aside the problems, conflicts, difficulties, and stresses we all have in this life, and focus on the grace of God, “expressing the grateful feelings of our hearts to our divine benefactor.”