“O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His lovingkindness is everlasting. Then say, ‘Save us, O God of our salvation, and gather us and deliver us from the nations, to give thanks to Your holy name, and glory in Your praise.’ Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting even to everlasting. Then all the people said, ‘Amen,’ and praised the Lord”
(rf. I Chron. 16:34-36 NASB).
One would think that having an attitude of thanksgiving would be an automatic response to all of God’s goodness, especially for those who are called God’s people. We of all folks should easily recognize the loving hand of Almighty God in our everyday lives and, specifically, in those difficult times when He makes His Presence known to us in prayer.
Yet, with all of the evidence of God’s goodness towards us as His children, how many of us actually take the time to give Him the thanks that He rightfully deserves. It is far easier to take His good actions toward us for granted, believing that He will always provide such things to us. It is a more difficult thing for us to “stop and smell the roses”, putting the busyness of our lives aside for a few concentrated moments to heartfully thank our Heavenly Father for loving us so much and for always providing for us in all situations.
This is the spirit of the passage above. We have the strong encouragement to “give thanks to the Lord, for He is good”. His “lovingkindness” towards us never runs dry! We are to remember the blessings of the past He has sent our way, the many times He has delivered us from dire situations and to give Him the glory He alone deserves. The Scripture encourages us to do so. Our response should be the same as the Israelites in this text—we should say, “Yes, this is all true for us” (“Amen”). This realization on our part should result in our full and unstinted praises to the Lord God above.
So, as we plan to set aside family time for the celebration of the Thanksgiving holiday, let us remember that we have even more reason to be thankful than the unbelieving world around us. We have a God who cared enough for us to send His Son on our behalf to take away the sin that separated us from Him so that He could engage in a personal relationship with everyone who makes up His body, His Church. Let us then show forth a thankful attitude, not just at this appointed time during the year, but every day that we are given to live, serve and love the Lord our God.
