THANKSGIVING

Colossians 2:6-7 (ESV): 6 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding (overflowing, spilling over) in thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is my favorite American established 'holiday' in that the focus is not on receiving anything, even from God, but is the the simple fact of giving thanks that  God is God. Because of who He is, everything follows.  It is not because of what we have that we give thanks to God, but that because of His very presence in and through us, we thank Him.  

Back in 1820, a guy named William Jay wrote beautiful (and long) prayers for the family to use.  I went to his morning prayer for Thanksgiving and noticed how he begins (I will change his use of the 'King's english' and edit for clarity here):

    "Oh God, YOU are very great.  YOU are clothed with honor and majesty; YOU cover YOURSELF with light as with a garment.  YOU walk upon the wings of the wind.  When we reflect on the glory of YOUR majesty, we are filled with wonder at the vastness of YOUR condescension.  For YOU condescended even at the vastness of Your condescensions.  For YOU condescended even to behold things that are in Heaven.  What then are men and women that YOU are mindful of them........?  We rejoice that we are under the governance of a BEING who is  not only almighty , but perfectly righteous, and wise, and good; that all things in our world are (Q: superintended) by YOU Father; that YOUR providence numbers the very hairs of our head and that a sparrow falls not to the ground without our heavenly FATHER.......We bless YOU for personal mercies.  If we are called, it is by YOUR Word.  If we are renewed, it is by YOUR Spirit.  If we are justified, it is freely by YOUR grace, through the redemption that, is in Christ Jesus.  It is in YOU we live and move and have our being.  YOUR goodness has been always near us, to hear our complaints....." 

Gracious gratitude starts with God by recognizing Him, His character, His grace and mercy and power regardless of any of our difficulties or enjoyments. And, because He is God and we acknowledge His Lordship over our lives:

1.  We are not on a sea of change or at the mercy of some impersonal force

2.  We are not at the mercy of chance or 

3.  Held in a bind by some deterministic power. 

Reason enough to be thankful to Him, for Him.  We believe, because God is, and who He is, that He takes all things we face good and the most challenging and uses them for our good. When the news is overwhelming, the believer can thank God, that He sits over all.  We can face illness, disappointment, bereavement, unemployment, difficulty, sorrow--because God who promises to look after the sparrow, is involved in the life and circumstances of the object of His love...you and me.   

It is after William Jay affirms God and who He is as His primary focus of  his abounding, overflowing thankfulness, that he, then, goes on share God's blessings by saying:  "We thank You for relative benefits," that is, because He is and we acknowledge Him first, we see all the follows, the "relative benefits" even in the midst of our greatest challenges in life.

Let us all begin our Thanksgiving with thankfulness to God for God. Why:

1.  It focuses our awareness on the One to Whom we give thanks.

2.  Giving thanks to God for Himself, turns our gaze away from self and our circumstances

3.  Protects from our pride, thinking we: deserve more or don't deserve what has come our way.

4. Defends against the Devil's drawing us into the sin action of despair and distrust

5. Allows us to realize that God's loving purpose can be found in all circumstances.  

I am thankful to God, first for who He is and then for the relative benefits He has blessed me in days that are good and in those that have been most difficult.  Because God is God in our lives, I can thank Him for all that follows. 

Have a blessed Thanksgiving with God and with others, upon this most special day.

Quentin

Sharecropper's Inheritance; Thanksgiving, 2024