Today is Thanksgiving Day in the USA, but for the Christian every day is a great day to give thanks to the Lord. There are so many reasons why we should be thankful as Christians that if I were to make a list it would take me all day and I still would have not completed my list.
(1 Thessalonians 5:18) tells us: “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” As Christians one of the greatest desires of our heart should be to always be in the will of God. In this verse we can see plainly that God’s will for us is to have a thankful heart. To be ungrateful or to have a complaining spirit clearly takes us out of God’s will. So, the first reason to always be thankful is because it’s God’s will. And that is a great reason in my book.
Cultivating an attitude of gratitude not only is God’s will for us but as with everything God wants us to do, having a thankful heart brings with it a myriad of blessings to those who are always thankful.
Back in June 2020, I started a daily habit that has proven a great blessing to me. Each day I type five things that I am thankful for in my “Daily Thanksgiving Log.” Some things are big things like thanking the Lord for my salvation and my wonderful wife, Meiying. Other things are small like owning a cell phone and having a bed to sleep in. But what I really enjoy about keeping a daily thanksgiving log is that it keeps my mind focused on all of the blessings that God has given me and away from complaining about what I don’t have. Not only that but being thankful glorifies Jesus since whenever we are doing things in the will of God, Jesus is pleased.
Not only can we give thanks for the outright blessings but as Christians we can even be thankful when we are going through trials and suffering because we know that God has a good purpose in allowing them. I love how the psalmist shares this point when we read: “It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees.” (Psalm 119:71). So, whether we are blessed or allowed to go through a period of suffering we should be thankful because we know that God is in sovereign control and is working all things for good to those who are His children.
So, on this Thanksgiving Day may I challenge you to start your own thanksgiving daily log and list five things you are thankful for each day. I guarantee you will be blessed and, in the process, glorify Jesus. And that my friends is a winning combination!