Yesterday, families near and far sat around cloth covered tables, enjoying a bountiful feast of traditional Thanksgiving food and family favorites, and reminiscing about the blessings of the past year. Thanksgiving, in and of itself, is a fantastic moment to look back and marvel at how the previous twelve months have unfolded; however, there is also the tendency to view Thanksgiving as the starting gun to the chaotic sprint to Christmas and the end of the calendar year without regard for the present and future opportunities it provides.
One’s approach to the celebration of Thanksgiving is directly linked to one’s view of God’s grace. For many, the old adage is applied—hindsight is 20/20. This is certianly true for it is difficult for us to comprehend all that God is doing in any given moment, but once completed we can see how the pieces fit together perfectly in God’s plan for our lives. In those moments we acknowledge God’s grace and involvement in our lives and, rightly so, because every single thing we have received is another undeserved gift from the well of God’s mercy toward us (James 1:17).
However, as we look back, we must also take the opportunity to look around us in the present moment while simultaneously looking toward the future. Why? Because the same grace we have experienced is the same grace we are and will experience in the days, weeks, months, and years ahead. How and with what the Lord chooses to bless us in the coming year will be just as undeserved as that with which he has already blessed us. It is this paradigm shift in our thinking that enables us to have and express genuine gratitude to God for the blessings in our lives and, most importantly, for His grace.
But how are we to express this genuine gratitude that places the magnificence of the Giver above the gift? Consider the biblical example of gratitude we have in Hannah. She was beloved by her husband, Elkanah, but had not been able to have children. She endured a hostile environment while living with her husband’s other wives because she was the only one that was barren. Through her deep emotional pain, she cried out to God in the tabernacle, promising that if He gave her a son, she would give that child back to the Lord for life-long service.
God heard Hannah’s prayer and gave her a son—Samuel. For the first few years of the boy’s life, when Elkanah went to the temple for the annual sacrifice, Hannah stayed home with Samuel having determined to wait until he was weaned to bring him before the Lord. When the time came, Hannah kept her vow and took Samuel to live with the priest in Jerusalem. She had no regret nor resentfulness in her heart. Instead she was full of gratitude. How was that possible? Because Hannah chose to worship the Giver, not His gift.
Therefore, take today—the day after Thanksgiving—to go before God and worship Him as the Giver of all things. Remember that He is our Heavenly Father who loves to give good gifts to His children (Luke 11:13) and that He knows exactly what we need and when we need it (Matt 6:8,
32-33). He created everything for our good and His glory and He governs our lives “to show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (Eph 2:7). May our expression of gratitude be an open window into the storehouses of all He has made available to us through His magnificent grace.
~Brent
Kommentare