|
|
Some Things to Be Thankful For It is that time of year again.
Later this week we will have “Turkey Day” otherwise known as
Thanksgiving. At the time a lot of
people are out of work, soldiers are still fighting on foreign soil, soldiers
were just recently gunned down at We should be thankful for our Creator.
“Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! Because His mercy endures
forever” (Psalm 118.1, and repeated in verse 29).
The idea is expressed in Psalm 136.1, 2, 3 and verse 26 with just a
little variation. We should not take
for granted the mercy and goodness of our God.
In Greek mythology the gods were sometimes petty, angry without cause,
and just plain cruel. Thankfully we
have a God that cares for us. Sin is
a transgression of God’s law, 1 John 3.4 and is against His very nature.
One could hardly blame God if He had killed Adam and Eve in the Garden of
Eden. Yet we see the grace of God in
Genesis 3.15 as we see the beginning of God’s plan of salvation as He spoke of
the “seed of woman.” This seed
would die for our sins and give us redemption through His blood.
As John 3.16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only
begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have
everlasting life.” We should also
be thankful that the God in the Bible is not the god of Calvinism.
The god of Calvinism selects or elects the individuals that will be save
and those that will be lost. Notice that I said the individuals and not the
group. My point is that our God says
that whoever believes in Him should not perish.
This means that anyone and everyone who submits to the Son of God will be
saved. This gives us all the same
hope of salvation in Jesus Christ. The
god of Calvinism says that it does not matter what you do, for He has already
predetermined everyone that will go to heaven and hell.
Thankfully we have the God described by Peter in Acts 10.34-35, “In
truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation whoever fears
Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.”
No one is lost by the mere whim of a god that by chance says who will go
to heaven and who will go to hell. We
are lost because of our sins and we will be saved by the grace of God in Christ
Jesus. Jesus died for everyone so
anyone can be saved. We should be thankful for Jesus; it is through
His sacrifice on the cross that we have the hope of heaven.
“I thank God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given
to you by Christ Jesus” (1 Corinthians 1.4).
While I admire the willingness of Jesus to die on the cross for my sins,
I must admit I cannot truly understand the total sacrifice Jesus made for me.
He left heaven to come down here to live among men.
The very place we are trying to go to, He left.
Would you or I be willing to leave the presence of God to come down here?
Yet, without His taking on the body of flesh we would not have His life
and example. Without His blood our
sins would remain and we would be lost. As
said by the Hebrew writer, “without shedding of blood there is no remission”
(Hebrews 9.22). Because of Jesus we
can have the victory over death. “”The
sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus
Christ” (1 Corinthians 15.55-56). We should be thankful for the Gospel of
Christ. The word “Gospel” means Good
News and truly it is very good news. It
was first preached on the Day of Pentecost in We should be thankful for our brethren in
Christ. No one is perfect and that
includes you and me. However, our
brethren are trying to do the will of God. Paul
often expressed his appreciation to the Christians he wrote to.
“Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and
your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making
mention of you in my prayers” (Ephesians 1.15-16).
To the church at Thessalonica he wrote, “We are bound to thank God
always for you, brethren, as it is fitting, because your faith grows
exceedingly, and the love of every one of you all abounds toward each other”
(2 Thessalonians 1.3). I am thankful
for the older Christians who lived through personal problems, church problems,
child rearing, and are battling current health problems.
I am thankful to those that are now in the prime of life and are using
their talents to serve God. They are
rearing their children according to God’s word and many are doing a really
good job. I am also thankful for the
young Christians as they face peer pressure, ridicule from our society, and
enticement from Satan. We are to
love one another for we are serving the same God and trying to go to the same
place. The fact is we need each
other for encouragement, wisdom, and sometimes rebuke.
One of the blessings of preaching the Gospel is getting to know people in
other congregations. At times our
paths cross and we get to catch up with those brethren and find our bond of
friendship is still strong. We are
to pray for one another, and rejoice with each other.
Christians are the best people in the world. We should be thankful for the avenue of
prayer. Every letter Paul wrote
mentions prayer. Paul prayed for his
brethren and asked them to pray for Him and the spreading of the Gospel.
“We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying
always for you” (Colossians 1.2-3, emphasis mine, D.T.)
“Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5.16).
It is through prayer we communicate our hearts desire to God.
We can petition God on behalf of others and praise Him for all He has
done for us. All of us have faced
times when prayer was the only thing we could do and we know God listens to His
children. Prayer is not to be used
as a last resort but as our first reaction.
When we are happy we should thank God for our blessings.
In times of trial we should ask God to help us.
When making important decisions we should as for wisdom. When sad we
should ask God for comfort and when we sin we should ask for forgiveness. There are many other things we should be
thankful for; our food, shelter, clothing, health, family, etc.
Let us remember that thanksgiving is not just one day a year, but
something we are to do each day we have. We have truly been blessed by God. –
Dennis Tucker |