Here is a great song to get us thinking about God’s goodness as we prepare for Thanksgiving tomorrow:
Tag: Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving Quotes To Ponder
Never was there an eminent saint who was not full of thankfulness.
– J.C. Ryle
Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!
For the LORD is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.
– Psalm 100:4-5
Good God, many and great are the blessings by which I am bound to Thee, and for which I give Thee most hearty thanks; but how can I sufficiently thank Thee for having enlightened me with the holy faith? I tremble, O Lord, when I compare this Thy great gift with my own ingratitude.
– Francis de Sales
Almighty God, Father of all mercies, we thine unworthy servants do give thee most humble and hearty thanks for all thy goodness and loving-kindness to us, and to all men. We bless thee for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all, for thine inestimable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ; for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory. And, we beseech thee, give us that due sense of all thy mercies, that our hearts may be unfeignedly thankful, and that we shew forth thy praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives; by giving up ourselves to thy service, and by walking before thee in holiness and righteousness all our days; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost be all honour and glory, world without end. Amen.
– 1662 Book of Common Prayer
Beyond Grateful Hearts
In Luke 17:11-19, ten lepers come to Jesus to be healed. Jesus tells them to go and show themesleves to the priests. As they go, all ten are healed. One turned back and “fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks.”
Were the other nine glad to be healed? Undoubtedly they were! Leprosy was a horrible disease, and made one an outcast of society. Certainly they were happy to be healed. You might say they were thankful, that they had grateful hearts. But they never came back to give thanks.
Many in America this week, will celebrate Thanksgiving. They will have grateful hearts as they think of the good things in their lives. But they will never come to the Lord who gave them every good thing, and give thanks to him.
As Christians, we too can fail to give thanks. God answers a prayer, and we are very happy about it. But we forget to thank the Lord.
This week and every day, may God help us to not only have grateful hearts like the nine, but to return to the Lord and give thanks to him.
Thanksgiving Quotes
Thanks to all of you who read this blog! Here are some quotes about thanksgiving for us to ponder this Thanksgiving:
“Every stream should lead us to the fountain; and the favours we receive from God should raise our admiration of the infinite perfections that are in God.”
– Matthew Henry
“It must be an odd feeling to be thankful to nobody in particular. Christians in public institutions often see this odd thing happening on Thanksgiving Day. Everyone in the institution seems to be thankful ‘in general.’ It’s very strange. It’s a little like being married in general.”
– Cornelius Plantinga, Jr.
“Numberless marks does man bear in his soul, that he is fallen and estranged from God; but nothing gives a greater proof thereof, than that backwardness, which every one finds within himself, to the duty of praise and thanksgiving.”
– George Whitefield
“Giving thanks to God for both His temporal and spiritual blessings in our lives is not just a nice thing to do – it is the moral will of God. Failure to give Him the thanks due Him is sin.”
– Jerry Bridges
“Would you know who is the greatest saint in the world: It is not he who prays most or fasts most, it is not he who gives most alms or is most eminent for temperance, chastity or justice; but it is he who is always thankful to God, who wills everything that God wills, who receives everything as an instance of God’s goodness and has a heart always ready to praise God for it.”
– William Law
“The Christian who walks with the Lord and keeps constant communion with Him will see many reason for rejoicing and thanksgiving all day long.”
– Warren Wiersbe
“Grasping the depths of one’s sin brings a sense of how much one has been forgiven, which increases one’s gratefulness, which in turn motivates service.”
– James S. Spiegel
“This is the holy reasoning of love; it draws no license from grace, but rather feels the strong constraints of gratitude leading it to holiness.”
– Charles Haddon Spurgeon
Don’t Just Give Thanks
It is Thanksgiving in a few days – that time of year when we think about all our blessings, and presumably give thanks to God. Of course giving thanks to the Lord should be a daily habit, but that isn’t the point of this post. What I want to suggest here is that true gratitude goes further than simply giving thanks. Gratitude leads us to give our lives.
For eleven chapters, Paul shares with the Romans the greatest blessing God has ever given. He explores the ins and outs of our great salvation that Christ purchased for us through the cross and enpty tomb. Then he begins chapter 12: “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God….” In other words, in light of God’s great mercy found in this great salvation, you should…. You should what? Give thanks? No, much more – “present your bodies as a living sacrifice….” In response to the greatest blessing of all, Paul tells us to give our lives. Sacrifice ourselves for God.
How do we sacrifice ourselves for God? By sacrificially giving of ourselves for his kingdom. By sacrificially giving of ourselves for others made in God’s image. We sacrifice our time to share the gospel, listen, encourage, help, serve. We sacrifice our reputation by helping someone undesirable in the world’s eyes or telling others about Christ even if we are labeled as religious nuts. We sacrifice our finances as we give to someone with a need, give to our local church to advance its ministry for Christ, give to missionaries seeking to take the gospel around the world.
Or in Jesus’ words – we deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow him. We stop living for ourselves. We are willing to suffer for his sake. We are willing to follow him wherever he leads to do whatever he calls us to do.
All of this, not to try to pay God back for his blessings. Not to try to earn his favor. But simply because we are blown away by his incredible blessings, and so out of gratitude and love we give of ourselves.
This Thanksgiving as we reflect on God’s blessings, let us by all means give thanks to God, but let us also give our lives to the one who has blessed us so richly.
Give Thanks
“It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
to sing praises to your name, O Most High;
to declare your steadfast love in the morning,
and your faithfulness by night,
to the music of the lute and the harp,
to the melody of the lyre.
For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your work;
at the works of your hands I sing for joy.
How great are your works, O Lord!
Your thoughts are very deep!”
– Psalm 92:1-5
God daily shows us his love and faithfulness. His works are great. He does great things for us. Let us give thanks to him!
What is one thing you are especially thankful for today? Record it in a comment below.
Brian J. Mikul 