Posted by TJ on 11/24/2022Tags: General RuminationsGiving Thanks

Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. Oh, give thanks to the God of gods! For His mercy endures forever. Oh, give thanks to the Lord of lords! For His mercy endures forever

Today is a festive day of thanksgiving here in the U.S. I try not to let it go by without acknowledging just how much I have to give thanks for.

And what does it mean to “give thanks?” Giving thanks implies that you are thankful, grateful to someone else for something. I could be thankful to my wife for making our turkey this year. And she could be thankful that she has the skills to do it. And who gave her the abilty to get those skills? Ultimately, when you give thanks, for the Christian, the thanks ends up at God. God has provided for everything that we have, everything that I have. The good or the bad. But this year, like every year before it, there is much good that I am thankful for.

I am thankful for my wife, my children, my home, the good job I have, the food on our table, the neighborhood in which we live. I am thankful that despite the work of the enemy in our nation, and the Godless in places of authority, we still experience the grace and mercy of God in our land. We still experience the freedom to go where we please, to worship as we please.

I’m thankful for my church body and the influences of good and Godly people in my life and the lives of my family and the way they shape our life, thinking, and theology. I’m thankful for the good men and ministers in our denomination. I’m thankful for the church body we were previously members of before we moved to the town we live in now and the foundation that church lay in our family and in the lives of my children — most of whom were born and baptized in that church.

And though it may be cliché, I’m thankful for the Lord Jesus Christ and his work on the cross. For making me and my family a part of his family by paying the penalty for our sins. We often take this for granted as believers — or at least, I do. That’s why it’s good once in a while to stop and take stock of our lives and give thanks to God.

That’s why I’m thankful even for a day of Thanksgiving. Praise the Lord for his goodness to us!