As I sit and reflect on the value of a day dedicated to giving thanks many thoughts come to mind. Here is a sampling in no particular order:
- I have many things for which I should be thankful. The very fact that I have the ability to write this post in the comfort of my home is just one of the many.
- I am thankful that I have someone to whom I can give the thanks.
- I find it interesting that on the day set aside for giving thanks, I will be bombarded with advertisements intended to increase my discontent. All this is an effort to get me to spend money on stuff I don’t really need.
- It seems that gratitude is an antidote to pride. I cannot be grateful for what has been given to me while at the same time thinking that I did it all myself. Paul asked the Corinthians, “what do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?” (1 Corinthians 4:6)
- Being thankful for what I have should lessen my anxiety about the future.
- For Christians, being thankful should be our daily experience. Peter tells us that God has given us “everything pertaining to life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3). For this we should be thankful.
- While it is certainly good to give thanks for material prosperity, giving thanks for spiritual prosperity should take precedence.
- Others may take away my material blessings, but no-one can take away my peace if it is grounded in my relationship with God.
- I am especially thankful for those who have encouraged me through the years to become the man that God intended me to be (a work in slow progress).
Perhaps Paul’s words from the end of Chapter 8 of his Letter to the Romans is the best reminder of our reason to be thankful today:
“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38–39, ESV)
Happy Thanksgiving!