A season of thanksgiving
I love this time of year – well, maybe not all the heavy snow we had this past week – but I love this season of thanksgiving.
There is something about this season.
The harvest, the colours of fall. In October we have our Canadian Thanksgiving, and in November many celebrate the American Thanksgiving, times of the year when we are prompted to consider all we are thankful for, such as harvest, family, country and freedom.
December is also part of our season of thanksgiving. It is the time we have set aside to remember how God sent His Son to this earth is such a humble, yet mighty way to take on human form, all so he could reveal God and His will. And for this, we truly give thanks.
When David wrote his Psalms of praise, he wrote a number of times, the words… “Give Thanks to the Lord” (Psalm 105:1, 106:1, 107:1 and more). Why would David feel the need to tell us and remind himself so many times to give thanks to God? Well, for a very good reason. We are a people who need to be reminded of what God has done for us!
Listen to what David wrote in Psalm 103:10-17a.
He wrote that God, “…does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him: as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him: for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust. As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field: the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place special remembers it no more. But everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him…”
What greater reason in this world do we have to give thanks, but to thank God for his love, his compassion and for sending His Son Jesus Christ to this earth to be the penalty price of our sins?
We really do have so much to be thankful, yet I know that life, at times, is not easy. I recognize that there are many people around us who have faced hurt and difficulties so tough that it makes it hard to have a spirit of thankfulness. The apostle Paul faced some amazing difficulties in his life, and this gave him empathy for what we face in life. Yet, Paul knew that even when he faced those times of difficulty, there was a source of power and calmness in Christ.
Paul wrote in Philippians 4:1213… “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”
Paul knew difficulty, but even in the hardship, he knew he had to give thanks to God.
He knew that in the midst of the troubles of life, Jesus is with us. He is our source of peace and strength, and because of Jesus Christ, we know we can face anything that life tosses our way. And greater still, is the promise we have that this world is not all there is. There is life eternal, and because of this, it truly is a season of thanksgiving, a season to celebrate not just this time of the year, but every day of the year.