GIVE THANKS

GIVE THANKS

“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1Thessalonians 5:16-18

Thanksgiving Day is coming. It’s the day set aside by Abraham Lincoln, over one hundred years ago, to honor God as our provider of all things. It is a day to come together in recognition of our past, the coming of the Pilgrims to America to escape religious persecution. It’s to recognize those brave souls who, after surviving a terrible winter and the planting of the first crops in the spring, harvested those crops and had a celebration of thanksgiving to God Who had sustained them. It is a day of remembrance, to offer God the glory due Him.

Paul says, here, that our prayer, our joy, and our thanksgiving should be continual. In God’s kingdom there is cause for thanksgiving every day. “So, then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.” (Col. 2:6-7). Our heavenly Father wants us to be thankful and to give that heart of thankfulness to Him in prayer and praise. “The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to Him in song.  (Psa. 28:7). “Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name.” (Psa. 100:4).

We need to be reminded that we need to give thanks in all circumstances because that is God’s will for us. Even in the hard times we need to give thanks because there is always something to be grateful for. Even if we are ill or grieving, we can always be thankful that our Father has given us another day. That is so important in how we view every day! Life is a gift, and we should be thankful for it. So, remember our gracious Father Who has given us all things to enjoy (1Tim. 6:17) and be thankful, not just on Thanksgiving Day but, always. “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe…” (Hebrews 12:28).