Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures forever.
Summary: Happy Thanksgiving!
As we enjoy this Thanksgiving holiday, it is good to take a moment and consider, not only what we have to be thankful for, but who we need to be thankful to. It is all well and good to feel that “I’ve got mine,” but true thankfulness requires that we thank someone.
Pity the poor atheists at Thanksgiving. They might be thankful for life, but they have no one to be grateful to for such a great gift.
As Christians, we have someone to thank. Even in times of deprivation and suffering, we have something to be thankful for. Life, from a Christian perspective, is more than food, more than drink, and even more than breath itself. Life is a connection with God, our Creator. It so happens that he is also our Papa, our Father.
Even if we don’t fully understand his ways, we can acknowledge that he knows what he is doing (Isaiah 55:9).
When things don’t go our way, it doesn’t mean God doesn’t like us or want us to have good things. What it often means when things are going wrong is that we are on the wrong path. Like the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32), we think our way is best. Only when it doesn’t work out well do we stop and realize how good we had it before.
Sometimes, of course, events that are beyond our control overtake us. Life can be hard. Is there something to be thankful for when every day seems like a burden (Job 2:9)? Amazingly, the gift of life is that there is always hope for a better day (Job 2:10).
If everything in life is upside down, we can be thankful that the Lord is good and his love endures forever. And if everything in your life is going well, we have all the more reason to praise God and give him thanks.
Application: Consider what God has done for you and give thanks.
Food for Thought: How is giving thanks to God like worship?
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How is giving thanks to God like worship?
My understanding is that thanksgiving focuses on what God has done, and praise focuses on who God is, and as you have said, those two can’t be separated. In a very real sense, it is because of what God has done that we know who He is, and because He is never changing, we can be sure (have faith) in what He will do.
James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
Imagine trying to say to someone, “I appreciate what you have done but I still think you’re a jerk.” That’s a lot of entitlement right there! A lot of questioning of motives and intent. With God, we know that what He has given is from Himself, that His motives and intent are love. That gives us thanksgiving and praise in our hearts. That gives us gratitude, and gratitude is glorifying God. Glorifying God is worship.
1 Chronicles 29:11 Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all.
I give thanks to God for his grace and mercy. For creating my life and sustaining it. To the hope He has given me through Jesus Christ my Lord. I am both humbled and lifted up.
1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,