Being Thankful
Hello Beloved,
Advent and Christmas may seem like it's already here, but first we have Thanksgiving. With every year, I love holidays more and more. I'm not sure if it's being a dad, or getting wiser with age, but I really enjoy gathering with family and doing something out of the ordinary to celebrate.
Thanksgiving is a day filled with traditions for us. We eat turkey and stuffing. We watch the Macy's parade. We used to get ready to go shopping on Black Friday, which was always an interesting contrast to see Black Friday creeping into Thanksgiving night.
As Christians, this day fits for us, because we know we're called to be thankful.
We have a vague sense of needing to thank God for things in our lives. We might have been taught social manners like saying thank you.
But thanksgiving is both bigger and more ordinary.
Thanksgiving as an attitudes knows no bounds.
It is not reserved for those who have a lot or have not.
It's not for those in the best of times.
Thanksgiving is for all of us at all times.
The power of it is that there's never a situation where we cannot find something to be thankful for. The world tries to package and sell this as the power of positive thinking.
"Be optimistic," we're told, as we're ushered into a thankfulness to no one in particular. Doesn't being thankful require someone I'm thankful to? Someone who gave me the thing causing my thankfulness? Worldly thankfulness is generally positive thoughts about the circumstances of life.
But as Christians, our thankfulness isn't merely optimism. We're not thankful in general.
We're thankful to someone, namely God.
When we are thankful, we aren't simply happy about our circumstances.
We're thanking a personal God for specific things because we know that they have come from His hand. King Jesus taught us to pray to God for daily bread. This means when we have something as common as daily bread, we ought to turn around and thank God for providing it.
I had a friend in college who would pray the most intentional prayers as meal times, so I stole it as my own: "God, thank you for providing for us in such a physical way. I pray that we would trust you to provide for us in all things."
So on Thursday, thank God for something as simple as your daily dinner rolls, or cornbread dressing, or turkey, or whatever you find yourself eating. Thank him for providing in such a physical way.
Don't be afraid to look with eyes wide open at the blessings of your life. And when you see them, turn with thanks toward the giver of every good and perfect gift (James 1:17).
I love you all, and Happy Thanksgiving.
In Christ,
Jonny Day