A Heart of Thanksgiving & Gratitude

A Heart of Thanksgiving & Gratitude

November is the month selected on the calendar to give thanks for, and reflect with gratitude, the many blessings in our lives. It is a time to acknowledge God and thank Him for His provision, protection, His love, His blessings, His faithfulness and so much more.  Thanksgiving Day is a holiday set aside specifically to be a time when we gather with friends and family to share food and fellowship with those we love.  Have you noticed, however, that over the years, that the world seems to have just pushed Thanksgiving into the background.  In the consumer world, it is an unimportant holiday as it does not really generate revenue as does the holiday before it; Halloween, and the holiday that follows it; Christmas.  That makes me sad.  Right after Halloween, the Christmas decorations are put out on the display, virtually skipping right over Thanksgiving.  People take down their Halloween decorations and put up their Christmas Tree, with no real thought about Thanksgiving.  Our gatherings have become less about giving thanks and more about food and football!  That makes me sad.  And God…He seems to have gotten lost along with our focus about what Thanksgiving is really all about, and that really makes me sad.

Maybe that’s because Thanksgiving can’t be and shouldn’t be relegated to just one day, and it’s not something that can be purchased in a store like Halloween or Christmas decorations.  Thanksgiving is something that we should be celebrating not just once a year, but each, and every day of our lives.  It is a way of life and something that is found in and flows from our hearts; hearts filled with love.

Hebrews 13:15 says, “through Him therefore, let us CONTINUALLY and at ALL times offer up to God a sacrifice of praise”.  Our hearts should be continually, and, at all times, be in a state of thanksgiving and praise to the One who has given us life and blesses us with ALL things.

There is power in a heart of thankfulness and gratitude.  Phil. 4:6-7 says “Do not be anxious for anything, but in everything through prayer and supplication WITH THANKSGIVING, let your requests be known to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus”.

Do we cherish the gift of thankfulness?  Do we realize that even though we are here on earth, as we lift our hearts in praise and thanksgiving, that we are partaking in the same joyous experience of the angels who surround the throne of God in heaven as they give thanks to the Lord God Almighty who is and was and will be to come? 

God’s heart is that thankfulness would constantly, and at all times, be raised upward to Him in a sacrifice of praise; that a thankful heart would be the language that we speak with our lips and our lives each and every day in all things.

The Father wants our lives to be characterized by gratefulness and gratitude.   Why?  Because it glorifies and magnifies Him and it reminds us of His faithfulness and all He has blessed us with.

As our hearts learn to always live in a spirit of thanksgiving, we find that not only does it bless the Father’s heart, but it changes us as well:

•  It refocuses our attention from ourselves and our worries, burdens & concerns, to the Lord by thanking Him for His provision, guidance & faithfulness.  It brings an awareness of His presence in ALL things in our lives.
• It frees our hearts from anxiousness and fills them with His perfect peace (Phil 4:6-7)
• It refreshes our relationship with Christ as it draws us closer to Him.
• It strengthens our faith as we focus on His faithfulness knowing that if He was faithful in times past, He will be faithful in things to come.
• It brings joy to our hearts no matter the circumstances we find ourselves in.

Ps. 100:4 instructs us to “Enter His gates with Thanksgiving and His courts with praise!  Give thanks to Him and bless His Name.”

Col. 2:7 – “Let your roots grow down into Him and let your lives be built on Him.  Then you will grow strong in the truth you were taught and you will overflow with thankfulness.”

1Thes. 5:18 – “Give thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”

Eph. 5:20 – “Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Ps. 107:1 – “Give thanks to the Lord for His is good.  His steadfast love endures forever.”

Thanksgiving and gratitude flow from a heart that is filled with love for the One who loved us first and gave His life for us that we might have eternal life.  How can we offer Him anything less and why should we, why would we, confine it to just one day a year? 

The world may have forgotten about Thanksgiving, but as followers of Christ, it should be in the center of our hearts every moment of every day. May our lives be a celebration of thanksgiving and gratitude to our God always.

Debbie Dorman, Kingman