Thanksgiving Upon Us

Thanksgiving is upon us and not only should our tables be groaning under the weight of the offering.  As Christians, we first have our salvation to be thankful for – and the further you look at what the love of Jesus Christ in your life means, the more and more overwhelmed with gratitude you have to be.  And the further you are filled with gratitude for that deliverance and victory and hope, the more and more grateful you will find yourself for every blessing you have received under the sun.

Today, most of what we call an American Thanksgiving has become a pathetic event.  It is pathetic because we refuse to give thanks to the Giver of all that we have received.  We refuse to acknowledge His existence, His presence, and the generosity of His giving.  We shake our fists at a God we do not even believe in.  How can you thank God, we say, when you look at the devastation of a Hurricane Sandy, the ongoing wars, the terrible economy, disease and want that is spread over the globe. 

Instead, our Thanksgiving, our giving of thanks, must be changed from the inside out. We need a reformation and revival of Thanksgiving – not simply the day – but a whole mindset, a new way of living.  When you are in Christ, you have everything and there is nothing kept from you from the Father without His kind, perfect, eternal, and personal reasons for you.  How do you know this?  Look to the cross.  In the only event that could ever be truly called unfair, unjust, uncalled for – the crucifixion of a perfect, holy, good, and loving man – God said “no” because He had a greater “yes” for His Son and for the world.

Death brought forth life for those who died with Christ.  The grave broke open, the stone rolled away, and a resurrection declared a new humanity, a new way, a new covenant, a new world.  It is upon these truths that we base our Thanksgiving.  In our sovereign and good God.  It was upon those truths that pilgrims who had suffered tremendously would still set aside three days and feast together before God in a declaration of His grace and kindness.  Count your blessings and come and worship your God.  Count your blessings and enter into His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise.