When November comes around, one of the first things that comes to mind is Thanksgiving Day and its traditions. For each of us, these traditions vary, but the common theme is taking time to give thanks for our many blessings.
However, Thanksgiving is way more than a holiday, going beyond turkeys and pilgrims, family gatherings and football games. It’s an attitude that should be in our hearts every day of the year. The Bible is full of reminders of this. We’re directed to, “Give thanks to the Lord for He is good” Psalms 107:1, and “Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart” Colossians 4:2 (NLT). In Romans 1:21-22 Paul describes the fate of, “sinful, wicked people who knew God but wouldn’t worship him or give him thanks… Claiming to be wise, they became utter fools.” We don’t want to fall into that trap! One scripture reminding us to be thankful is sometimes misunderstood.
1 Thessalonians 5:13 says, “Be thankful in all circumstances.” If we don’t read this carefully, we may think we’re supposed to thank God FOR all things, but it actually says IN all things. We’re not to be thankful FOR bad things that come into our lives, but when we experience them, we can thank God that we know they’renot FROM Him, but we’re trusting him to help us THROUGH them.
God is not mad at us or punishing us. Jesus took care of that on the cross. But we’re cheating ourselves out of enjoying God’s blessings if we don’t recognize and thank Him for them.
The more we look for God’s goodness in our everyday circumstances, the more joy we’ll experience. “A cheerful heart is good medicine” (Proverbs 17:22). As we continue to maintain a thankful heart, the nicer we will become to be around.