Thanksgiving

It's Thanksgiving Day and a significant number of us will gather with family and friends to be ... thankful. The real question is "Will we?"

One of the primary problems of the sinful human is the fundamental condition of ingratitude (Rom 1:21). Oh, we might be grateful. (I say "might.") We might be grateful that a friend did something nice or a loved one was kind. It's not that gratitude that's lacking so much. It's gratitude towards God, from whom and through whom and to whom are all things (Rom 11:36).

"Being a little over-dramatic, Stan?" some may ask. No, not really. The sin nature does not acknowledge God. So we have atheists who celebrate "Thanksgiving" without giving thanks to God. Now, that's a given; atheists by definition can't give thanks to God. But, just as prevalent, we have people who do claim to believe in God giving too little thanks to the God in whom they believe. We're grateful to friends and family. We're grateful for "warm and pleasant." We're less aware of the vast, overarching reality of all that God supplies and how really good it is -- how really good He is. We rarely say, "The Lord gives and the Lord takes away; may the name of the Lord be praised" (Job 1:20).

James tells us, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights" (James 1:17). And Paul assures us that "for those who love God all things work together for good" (Rom 8:28). Therefore, on this Thanksgiving Day, let us recognize and thank God for every good and perfect gift we have and for all things (1 Thess 5:18). May we today and every day be truly grateful.