Give Thanks.

This is the time of year when one day is set aside called Thanksgiving. It is a time for families to get together (although there are many restrictions these days), to share a meal and enjoy fellowship together, and to give thanks. One day is set aside for thankfulness; maybe we should set a week aside or perhaps we do a year of thanksgiving? As a Christian, every day of our lives is to be filled with gratitude to the One who has “called you out of darkness into His marvelous light,” (1Peter 2:9).  Many times in the book of Psalms we

find the words, “Oh, give thanks to the Lord.” According to the Psalms there are reasons to give Him thanks. These reasons include “for He is good and His mercy endures forever.”  We give Him thanks, “for His wonderous works,” and we give thanks to the Lord, “because of His righteous judgments.”

It’s easy to give thanks when everything is going great in our lives, but honestly those are the times when we may actually forget to give thanks at all. We can get so caught up in enjoying abundance we may often forget to give thanks to the One who blessed us.  Four times in Ps. 107 this phrase is found; “Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men.” May we not forget to thank God when things are going smoothly. Ps. 68:19 says, “Blessed be the Lord, who daily loads us with benefits, the God of our salvation! Selah.” But when we are faced with the difficulties of life, we are to be thankful to the Lord for those times also, because they refine us and build us up in our faith.

People often ask, “what is God’s will for my life?” 1Thess 5:18 gives us the answer to that often-asked question: “in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus

for you.” “In everything” is pretty all inclusive, isn’t it? No matter what the situation or the way events are unfolding in our lives we are told to give thanks.

God hasn’t called us to be pessimists or optimists, but He has called us to be thankfulists. Have a wonderful life giving thanks to the Lord, in blessing and in turmoil, for He is good and His mercy endures forever.

 

Pastor Marty