It is good that this nation stops to observe a time of giving thanks. We have truly been blessed with an abundance, and those who are not thankful are ingrates. However, the true Christian is one who remembers and thanks God, not merely once a year, but continuously. The Christian is to be like his brother Paul who “gave thanks always” (Eph. 5:20) and would “thank God without ceasing” (1 Thes. 2:13). Yes, the Christian is continually thankful to God. The Christian is also aware of, and is thankful for spiritual blessings, as well as the food and other earthly sustenance. To be sure, we thank God for the food which “hath been created to be received with thanksgiving…for every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving” (1 Tim. 4:3-4). But, the Christian, who is aware that every good and perfect gift comes from God (Jam. 1:17), looks beyond the physical blessings and thanks God: for the gift of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 9:15), for the goodness and mercy of God (Psa. 106:1; 107:1; 136:1-3), for the reception and effectual working of the word in others (1 Thes. 2:13), for deliverance from sin through Jesus (Rom. 7:23-25), for victory over death and the grave (1 Cor. 15:57), for the triumph of the Gospel (2 Cor. 2:14), for conversion of others (Rom. 6:17), for faith exhibited by others (Rom. 1:8), for love manifested by others (2 Thes. 1:3), for the zeal beheld in others (2 Cor. 8:16), for all men (1 Tim. 2:1) and for all things (2 Cor. 9:11; Eph. 5:20).
Yes. The Christian is one who has “put on his glasses” to see beyond the physical blessings to see the “total picture” (cf., 2 Pet. 1:9) and thanks God for all good things, all the time.
May we “be thankful unto Him” (Psa. 100:4).
Gary Henson