The most miserable person on earth has to be an atheist who suddenly feels grateful and has no one to thank!    If we are thankful for a beautiful sunset or a wondrous winter scene or the spectacular colors of fall, or for our good health, to whom do we give thanks if there is no God?  James 1:17 says, “Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation, or shifting shadow.”  But, if someone doesn’t acknowledge the existence of God, who is responsible for the wonderful gifts with which we are blessed?  

     The early settlers in our country stopped to give GOD thanks for their bounty. They KNEW the source–the providence of the Almighty God that had enabled them to come here and, with the help of some Native Americans, to learn how to live off the new land.  While we need to be thankful to others for the things they do for us or give to us, our ultimate thanksgiving must be to “God , who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy” (I Tim. 6:17).  Thanksgiving is the only sensible response to God who “so loved the world (of humanity), that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (Jn. 3:16).     “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift” (II Cor. 9:15), the “Gift which keeps on giving,”  “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him, freely give us all things?” (Ro. 8:32). 

   “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others” (Cicero). “It is only with gratitude that life becomes rich” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer).  You can’t be a happy person if you aren’t grateful. There is not a happy ungrateful person on earth.  Ungrateful people tend to think of themselves as victims and are filled with anger. (NOTE: Think about that as you consider the direction our culture has gone with its “Critical Race Theory” teaching of victimhood and racial injustice).  The road to spiritual apostasy is paved with the boulders of ingratitude.  Paul wrote this to the church at Rome: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness…for even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools…For this reason, God gave them over to degrading passions…” (Ro. 1:18-28).  Note that their spiritual decline began with suppressing the truth about God manifest in His creation and proceeded to not honoring God or “giving thanks.” Ungrateful hearts are a symptom of a decaying culture or individual. 

     As we celebrate Thanksgiving this week, let us remember that true thanksgiving emphasizes the Giver rather than the gifts.  God alone should be the object of our thanksgiving. And, for the Christian, Thanksgiving is not to be just a  special day but a way of life. “In everything give thanks for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (I Thes. 5:18).  We should live with an “attitude of gratitude.”  My brother-in-law, Ray Kutz, who recently passed away and was always such a great encouragement and example to us of living with a grateful heart, wrote in one of his notes to us: “I’m always thankful when the roof doesn’t leak, the toilets flush and the lights come on!”  Amen!

I love the words of the chorus, “Give Thanks” by Henry Smith:   

                                  “Give thanks with a grateful heart; give thanks to the Holy One; give thanks–                                    because He’s given Jesus Christ, His Son. 

                                   And now let the weak say, ‘I am strong:’  Let  the poor say, ‘I am rich,’ because of                            what the Lord has done for us…..and Give thanks.” 

Amen! Happy Thanksgiving,

Forever His,

Pastor Dave