LAURINDA WALLACE |GUEST
The table is set perfectly—for the moment, serving dishes line the kitchen counters, and all is ready for the annual feast. Aromas of turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, and fresh bread drift throughout the house as everyone anticipates the call to the table. Your clock management for the Thanksgiving feast seems just as crucial as it is for the NFL coach with thirty seconds left in the game, and his team is down by one point. When everyone is finally seated, you relax while watching your family fill their plates. However, for all the preparation and cooking, Thanksgiving Day is quickly over. In the busyness of cooking, the chaos of excited children, and too much pie, we may barely remember the prayers offered, and the gratitude family and friends shared around the table. Is the reason for this festive meal already in the rearview mirror?
While our calendar proclaims one day in the year as Thanksgiving Day, as God’s people, every day is an opportunity to give thanks—not to an ambiguous universe, but to the God who made heaven and earth. Saving up gratitude to the Lord for one day a year certainly isn’t what Paul had in mind when he wrote to the Colossian church: And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful (Col. 3:15). Thankfulness is the Christian’s way of life.
The children of Israel had short memories of God’s faithfulness and care just after the miraculous parting of the Red Sea and their rescue from the Egyptian army. Their gratitude soon switched to complaints that there was no food, and then they didn’t like the manna the Lord sent. This was just the beginning of their grumbling. I’m certainly guilty of the same, quickly forgetting how the Lord answers my daily requests for safety and provision of needs, which was recently brought to my attention. Every day, I pray specifically for the Lord’s protection over my grandsons, two teenagers and three between the ages of three and six. A lot can happen in any young man’s or little boy’s day! In the last few weeks, two incidents with my grandsons could have ended in injury or worse, but the graciousness of God kept them from harm. I don’t want to forget those wonderful mercies, but how can I make sure they aren’t?
Mile Markers
Just as the Israelites set up a tower of twelve stones to commemorate the crossing of the Jordan at Gilgal, so we too need markers along the path to jog our memory. We have the opportunity to set up markers in several ways.
Tell others about what God has done. We not only honor God, but we encourage family and friends. Sharing mile markers with our children and grandchildren is vital as we pass on memories of God’s faithfulness and even stories from previous generations. This is a spiritual heritage the next generations need to know. The psalmist writes: But we, your people, the sheep of your pasture, will give thanks to you forever; from generation to generation, we will recount your praise (Ps. 79:13).
Write it down. I’ve kept a devotional journal for many years, but some time ago, I began adding gratitude pages that list specific blessings and answered prayers. (I’m so quick to forget what He’s done!) In times of discouragement, looking back on these lists refocuses my troubled mind and heart on the Father’s steadfast love, not my current circumstance. The Apostle Paul’s letters to the churches are filled with lists of his gratitude for Jesus and His work on the cross, for people and their spiritual growth, and for God’s protection through persecutions and danger. He writes: … giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ (Eph. 5:20).
Visible Reminders. Every time we come to the Lord’s Table with our church family, it’s an occasion for thanksgiving as we corporately remember what the Lord Jesus accomplished for us by His death. The bread and the wine are simple but beautiful reminders of the great price paid for our salvation, which leads us to give thanks as Paul did in his letter to the Colossian church: … giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins (Col. 1:12-14).
The Word and Prayer. Memorizing Scriptures about gratitude gives us immediate resources to call upon, especially during those long nights of fretting over a problem, rocking a restless baby, or battling illness. As the truth is recalled, our hearts turn to our gracious and never-sleeping Father, who hears us in the wee hours. We can be confident in bringing all our troubles to the throne of grace, but intentionally offering thanks with our requests as Paul writes in Philippians 4:6: do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
While the holiday is fleeting, our days of thanksgiving will increase as habits of gratitude are built into our lives. We have so much to be grateful for! I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever (Ps. 86:12).
Photo by Simon Maage on Unsplash
