The Root of Thankfulness
Every year as the end of November approaches you see people from all over reflecting on the same word; thankful. No matter the life one has lived or the experience the individual has walked through everyone appears to find something that they are thankful for.
Thanksgiving was many weeks ago. Odds are you found yourself in the camp of individuals who posted and discussed the things that you are thankful for. In light of that, I have a question for you: are you still thankful?
It feels as if many people find themselves reaching out to loved ones and expressing gratitude for several days. People arrive to a content state of gratitude for about a week. From there people get on the “holiday high” where the thought of thankfulness continues to linger. As the new year approaches people create resolutions after looking back on what the previous year entailed.
Now, here we are, the holidays have come and gone; we find ourselves a couple of weeks into the new year. So, are you still thankful? The feeling of gratitude is not simply one that we are to experience a few weeks out of the year. It is to be a lifestyle.
Throughout Scripture we see reminders to seek and express our gratitude. All throughout the Psalms we see a consistent reminder to “give thanks to the Lord and to praise him”. It is interesting to note that most times the context around why we are to give thanks is because of who God is.
A few examples include… give thanks…
Because God is good (Psalms 106:1)
Because His love endures forever (Psalms 136)
In remembrance of who He is and what He has done (Isaiah 12:4-5)
Because He is near (Philippians 4:4-7)
Because we have victory in Him (1 Corinthians 15:57)
These are just a few examples of why we are to be thankful. It is interesting that the call to be thankful has little to nothing to do with our situations. Instead, the call to be thankful has everything to do with who our God is. We can take confidence in this beautiful truth. The choice to be thankful and have joy is not dependent on us or the temporary season of life we are in.
When you look around and feel weighed down by the world, remember that your joy can be rooted in something constant. The world is always changing. We find that both people and feelings come and go. But God is constant. If our joy is in him then our joy will not be dependent on the inconsistent moments the world brings. Now don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of things that bring joy in this world. There is always something to be thankful for. But remember, your joy does not have to be rooted in the things of the world.
We need to lift up our heads from whatever we are going through and look to who our God is. For Christians we can rejoice knowing that this world is our temporary home. One day we will get to be with God in Heaven forever because of what Christ did for us. God sending his Son to come and pay the price for our Sin is something we are so undeserving of but yet it is the reality we live in and something so beautiful. If that is not truth that causes you to rejoicing, I do not know what is!
