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Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! For those who are unfamiliar with the holiday, the fourth Thursday is set aside to give thanks for the bounty with which we have been blessed. We also get together with family and friends and enjoy a nice meal and quality time. Some families have the tradition of stating at least one thing/person/event during the calendar year for which they are thankful. I think that's a nice tradition. It make us focus on the blessings we have in this life and not so much on the struggles, which are highlighted more often than we may care to admit.

Today, let us be mindful of two things:

1. God gets the thanks. Period. Apart from God, we would have nothing and no one for which to give thanks.

But that's the easy part to remember...

2. Give thanks for everything. Yes, I typed "for." You see as Christians, we have a fairly easy time with the concept of giving thanks. We even accept the fact that in every situation we ought to give thanks because no matter how bleak the outlook, God is still deserving of all the glory, honour and praise. But we oftentimes fall flat on our faces when it comes to giving thanks FOR everything. Eph. 5:20 tells us, however, that we ought always to give thanks to the Father for everything. Now, that seems especially difficult if you are going through a struggle. You might ask how you can give thanks for things like unemployment, terminal illness, failed relationships, etc. I don't have all the answers, but I know that if you read Eph. 5:20 in conjunction with Rom. 8:28, the answer becomes clearer. If, in fact, all things do work together for good for them that love the Lord and who are called according to His purpose, then ought we not to give thanks even FOR life's struggles? God is still on His throne working and doing His good will in and through us.

So let's change our perspective (that was for you, Min. Jackie Powell!). No matter what we are going through, no matter how hopeless the situation might seem, this Thanksgiving Day let us pledge to take the path of inconvenience and offer sincere thanksgiving to God our Father, in whom there is no variableness, nor shadow of turning. Isn't He worthy?

Comments

  1. CherylNovember 22, 2012 at 4:19 PM

    The best story I can remember about this concept comes from Corrie Ten Boom in the Hiding Place. Her sister told her to give thanks FOR the fleas. It turned out that because of the fleas the soldiers would NOT go inside where they were and left them alone.

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