Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. (Psalm 100:1-5)
We are about to enter what is, for many people, the most stressful time of the year. How ironic that Thanksgiving and Christmas – which are both about giving thanks to God and recognizing his goodness – have been commercialized to the point of absurdity and filled with so much activity that, rather than feeling like holy-days, they just feel like a giant blur!
This year you have the opportunity to slow it all down, take a deep breath and decide to use this season to give thanks to God for what he has done and is doing in your life. One of the things that Jesus tried to point out to everyone he encountered is that God is working – always working – to bless the lives of people (See John 5:16-17). God pours out his blessings because he loves and cares for his creation with a Father’s heart.
When we give thanks to God we are acknowledging that we notice the many ways God is working in our world and in our lives and that we appreciate his loving attention.
When we give thanks to God we are declaring to all that we ourselves are not capable of giving meaning to live, or even capable of providing all that we need to sustain life. Rather, we gratefully acknowledge that God is the gracious provider of life.
When we give thanks to God we are also declaring that, just as God has provided for us in the past, we trust that his goodness endures forever and that our future is secure in his love. (Have you noticed what a huge issue “security” is in our world right now?)
When we give thanks to God we join his family throughout the ages in raising a chorus of thanksgiving to the one who is so generous and loving towards us all. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.
Whatever else may be happening in your life currently, it is happening in the presence of your loving Father, who is good and whose love never fails, but endures forever. For that we give thanks!
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