I trust that you all had a wonderful “Thanksgiving”. Cheryl and I had a wonderful day with family. It was great to spend the day celebrating God’s provision with my daughter, Ashley, Son-in-law Matt, his mother and my three grandkids. It’s amazing that the United States is one of 2 countries that takes a day out of the year to thank God for His abundant provision to our nation. I have visited many countries in my years of ministry and the only The United States and Canada, my country of birth, are the two countries that celebrate God's goodness. Canada's Thanksgiving usually takes place much earlier than Americans Thanksgiving and is usually around our Columbus Day.
Although much of Thanksgiving centers around the Pilgrims celebrating the first Thanksgiving sharing food with the Native Americans, the actual holiday did not become official until 1863 when during the brutal civil war, Abraham Lincoln established it as a day to remember the provisions of our creator. President Lincoln's desire was to create an official holiday that would help soften the relationship between the North and the South.
Being thankful must be a core attitude for every follower of Jesus. The apostle Paul gives this exhortation to the Thessalonian church in his first letter, 5:18
Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
In this instance, Paul is using the Greek word “εὐχαριστέω”. The transliteration is “eucharisteó” which is a compound word from the words eú, "good" and xaris, "grace" properly, acknowledging that "God's grace works well," i.e. for our eternal gain and His glory; to give thanks – literally, "thankful for God's good grace." I find it interesting that the word “eucharist” is the root pf this word.
The word “eucharist” is of course another term for the receiving of the Lord’s Table. The ultimate gift was Jesus’ shedding of blood and giving of His body for our redemption; the table of “thanksgiving”.
The term “gratitude” comes from the same word as does “thanksgiving”. They are synonymous to one another. Where be thankful could focus and the things God has done for us, it might not carry the same weight has having a heart of gratitude. Having gratitude shows us a deeper sense of our dependency on God who is the source of all things, not simply being thankful for what God has given us. Having gratitude deals with any sense of entitlement.
After going through all that Job had gone through, he had a deeper sense of awareness as to the majesty and immensity of God. In all of his experiences of total loss of everything, Job came to a deeper understanding of not just of God’s goodness of blessings but also His overall power and the using of all things both good and bad and using it for His purposes in our lives. Job had this perspective as we read in Job 1:21
And he said, “Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”
The Lord is not simply a giver of things that we need, He is the source and sustainer of life and everything in our lives. He has an ultimate purpose for everything. Every situation unlocks another mystery of His heart toward us who follow Him. Instead of just focusing on all the good things He does for us on just one day during the calendar year, let’s make every day of the year a day of “gratitude” for not just what He does for us but more importantly, worshipping Him for who He is, The Master and Creator of all that exists and the lover of our souls.