With Thanks

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving.  There will be an abundance of turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole and on our table, baked corn.  Many of us will indulge and find ourselves in a food coma on the living room couch.  And many will also indulge in a day of thankfulness.  We will turn our focus from social media, work, and responsibilities to recognizing all we should be grateful for.  

And I think that’s sad.  Bear with me.

Why does it take the declaration of “Thanksgiving Day” to appreciate our blessings?  Why is it so easy to focus on the daily grind, checking off items on our to do list and embracing the stresses and demands of life?  If you are anything like me, there are times when you wear your complicated busy life as a badge of honor.  

Be careful.  If satan can keep us focused on our worldly obligations and the stresses that accompany them, he can keep our eyes diverted from God.  When we are truly absorbed in God, our natural inclination is thankfulness.  When we live from a place of thankfulness, even the difficult has purpose.  

Living a life of thankfulness, especially amid struggles and demands, isn’t easy.  But it is absolutely the life that God wishes for us.  God is very clear that this worldly journey we are on will not be easy.  “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33).  Jesus is telling his disciples that even though He is going to leave this world, they are not to fear.  While they must continue to walk in a fallen world, Jesus has overcome!

There is no one in the Bible who lived a life of thankfulness more than the apostle Paul.  Despite immense suffering, he mentions thanks, thankful and variations of those words 49 times.   And he starts most of his letters with thankfulness for those to whom he is writing. 

Paul taught us to give thanks “ineverything”: In everythinggive thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you (I Thessalonians 5:18).

Paul taught us to give thinks “forall things”:

Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 5:20).

Paul did not teach us to give thanks on the fourth Thursday of November.

I’ve recently been on a journey to live a more thankful life.  One where I thank God not just for the blessings, but the days that drain me and draw me closer to Him.  To thank Him not just for the successes, but the failures through which I learn.  To thank Him not just for the people I love, but those that challenge me to like them.  To thank Him for protecting me by the blood of Jesus Christ, despite my circumstances.  To thank Him for the privilege of walking in a fallen world with an opportunity to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  

The enemy is happy when we contain our thankfulness to one day a year.  It makes his plans much easier.  You see, my brothers and sisters, thankfulness is a shield to the enemies lies.  It is a weapon against distractions and disruptions.  It is the joy that overcomes all.  The peace that transcends all understanding.  

And it is a choice.  Your choice.  Every moment.  Every hour.  Every day.  Maybe it will feel unnatural at first; that’s okay.  Keep doing it.  With every thankful thought, we draw closer to the one from whom all blessings flow.

Thank you, for making time in your busy lives to sit beside me each week and read the words God places on my heart.  I am more grateful than my limited vocabulary can articulate.  My Thanksgiving prayer for you is that starting tomorrow, you embrace a life of thanksgiving that lasts long after the turkey is gone.