November 2018
Message from Pastor Tom,
Now that harvest is complete and the fruit of the Holy Spirit is living within our hearts, it is now time to be thankful for the many blessings God has bestowed on us during our harvest time with the Lord. I love the fall when the leaves are changing colors and are falling, the kids will soon have eaten all their Halloween candy and everyone begins looking forward to family and friend get-togethers for Thanksgiving. The question on my mind however, will we be too busy preparing for the Thanksgiving holiday, making travel arrangements, or planning our dinner menu to be truly thankful? Will we still take the time to talk with God in our quiet place and remember to let Him know just how thankful we are for His Son and the precious blood He shed for us?
As we read our Bibles, we are reminded giving thanks is very biblical. The book of Psalms alone reminds us nearly 50 times to give thanks. The New Testament also reminds nearly 50 times, including the all-inclusive “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Yet even when Scripture tells us to “be thankful” (Colossians 3:15), we can often turn it into an obligatory expression of spiritual courtesy toward God, rather than an expression of an astounded, overwhelmed realization we have received mind-blowing grace from Him. We’ve learned to say thank you without really feeling thankful and to think it’s okay. But truly it’s not okay. Thankless gratitude is like affectionless love. It’s like joyless happiness. It’s like the form of godliness without its power. It’s just not okay. It’s not the real thing at all, and as long as we practice it, we are missing out on the joy God intends to give us through thanksgiving. When God commands us to “give thanks in all circumstances” (1 Thessalonians 5:18), He does not want some mere spiritual courtesy from us. It’s not like He needs our meager words of thanks or He’ll feel bad like grandma might have. I believe God does feel bad if we don’t express gratitude, but what He feels is not self-pity because we didn’t make Him feel good for doing something nice for us. He feels grieved for us because we are missing the point and therefore missing true joy.
God’s command for us to be thankful is a prescription of healing for the disease of our soul-crippling selfishness. It is an invitation for us to see the glory of God’s grace that is everywhere and, for the Christian, is infused into everything (Romans 8:28). It’s an invitation for us to leave behind the spiritual poverty of our sin and selfishness and receive, through the cross, “the immeasurable riches of God’s grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:7). The command for us to be thankful is God commanding us to experience the deep joy of true gratitude for all God promises to be for us in Christ forever. It is a profoundly kind and loving command. Christian thanksgiving is a feast of joy for the soul. It is savoring what is most satisfying to us. It is eating “the food that endures to eternal life” (John 6:27). So remember, in the words of the old table blessing, “For what we are about to receive, may the Lord make us truly thankful.”
Through His Word, God has entrusted to us the knowledge of who He is, what He is doing, and how the future will unfold for mankind. The Scriptures were intended to lead us into a growing personal relationship with our heavenly Father and to empower us for productive service as Christ’s ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20). In this position, we are called to follow Jesus’ example in glorifying God (Matthew 5:16), our Savior focused not on Himself, but on the heavenly Father whose plan is to reach the entire world with His saving grace.
Heidi and I pray this will be your most thankful Thanksgiving ever. May you and yours enjoy happiness, peace, love and joy with God, family and friends. I thank you for taking the time to read this and hope it spiritually enriches you.
Blessings from a pastor and his wife.
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. 1 Chronicles 16:34 (NIV)
