Thanksgiving that Isn’t Circumstantial

I recognize life has grown increasingly difficult for many of us. Perhaps you are among those who enter this season without a job. You may be wondering where your next meal is coming from. Maybe it’s your health that’s uncertain. While you feel OK the doctor is telling you that’s not what the tests say.

I’ve been thinking that this season I want my Thanksgiving to be more theological than circumstantial. I mean by that, I want the Lord to be the reason I’m thankful, not what’s going on around me. Few passages of Scripture communicate that as clearly as the 100^th Psalm, and few lives exemplify this as well as those first pilgrims.

Psalm 100
¹Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!
²Serve the Lord with gladness;
    Come before His presence with singing.
³Know that the Lord, He is God;
     It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
     We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
⁴     Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
     And into His courts with praise.
     Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
⁵     For the Lord is good;
     His mercy is everlasting,
     And His truth endures to all generations.

The most well-known Thanksgiving is of the Mayflower’s Pilgrims who set ground at Plymouth Rock on December 11, 1620. Their first winter was devastating and by fall they had lost 46 of the original 102. The harvest of 1621 was a bountiful one and the remaining colonists decided to celebrate with a feast. After counting all their blessings and giving thanks to God, the Pilgrims, Chief Massasoit and 90 Indians joined in a three-day Thanksgiving feast…

This Thanksgiving before your bow heads to say thanks, consider letting those around your table fill in the blank: “My God is _________.” In this way your Thanksgiving time becomes less about your circumstances and more about God’s faithfulness.