We just celebrated a wonderful holiday known as Thanksgiving. It’s one of our very favorites. That is because it is an official holiday dedicated to focusing our hearts—sometimes rearranging our hearts in thankfulness to God.
Yes, we should ALWAYS give thanks to God, according to scripture, and in the tugging of our hearts. We are told in Colossians 3:17: “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” But too often we forget to do that. And when we do remember to be thankful, we often forget to thank GOD. We thank others, but we forget to thank God.
Thankfulness to God
On that note, and in honor of our gracious Lord, we want to share something our dear friend, Debi Walter, shared on her web site—The Romantic Vineyard. It’s a web site we encourage everyone to visit. There are a lot of great romantic ideas posted there. But a few years back Debi posted something we’ve been thinking about a lot lately. It’s something we will share below. Please prayerfully consider the following with us:
“Have you noticed how thankful people are this time of year? It used to be refreshing to hear people actually thanking God for His many blessings in their lives. But there has been a subtle change that I’ve noticed. Many no longer thank God. Instead they thank their co-workers, their boss, their spouse, their friends, and anyone who makes their lives better. They simply give thanks!
“Now of course it’s good to give thanks to those who mean the most to us. But Thanksgiving is primarily about setting aside time to thank God for His abundant provisions, His glorious kindness and His amazing grace to us throughout the year.
“May we encourage you that as you go about planning your menu and family gatherings to be sure and set aside time to thank God specifically for the ways in which He has made a difference in your life. Why does it matter? Because thanking God glorifies His name. And when we glorify His name He is exalted. And when He is exalted we in turn are blessed all the more. It is part of His nature, to return blessings upon us as we praise His holy name.”
Agreement in Thanking God as a Priority
We couldn’t have said it any better. Yes, it’s important to thank our spouse, co-workers, boss, friends, etc., for the ways in which they bless us. We encourage it. But even then, none of those blessings would be possible without them first passing through God’s hands. After all, our every breath is in his hands. Steve’s near fatal heart attack made this point all the more real to us last year. Thank you God for your grace in allowing us another year plus together… happy and healthy! But Heaven help us… actually GOD help us, if we forget the One who is the originator of every good gift we have. We’re told in James 1:17:
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.“
So thank you God, from the depths of our hearts for all of the many blessings that You give to us. Thank You LORD… Thank You… even for our very breath, THANK YOU! We hope you will join us in giving thanks now, and throughout the year.
Posing A Question
And if you can make the time and take the opportunity, ask your spouse (perhaps your family too) a very important question. Then listen with a grateful heart to his or her response. It’s a question that Steve posed to us at our Thanksgiving Day table. Here’s it is:
“Where have you seen God’s goodness at work in your life this year?”
Think about it, talk together about it, and then thank God for all of it. Even in the midst of our difficulties, God is watching, and will redeem every tear shed as you keep your eyes on Him. Thank Him for that, if for no other reason …thank God for that. In the midst of Doubt Storms, in the midst of trials, God loves you. Please don’t ever forget that fact because it is true. For that reason and beyond, THANK YOU GOD!
If you need a little extra help to get to that place of thankfulness, here are a few articles we encourage you to read:
• WHEN WINDS OF ADVERSITY BLOW
• SURVIVING A CRISIS – MM #289
In thankfulness, as you go through your week, please know that we “thank God for our every remembrance of you.”
Cindy and Steve Wright
Filed under: Marriage Insights