Daily Devotional

This week many are preparing for Thanksgiving, the overshadowed holiday. I call it that because you may have noticed in the last several years that Christmas seems to start earlier and earlier to the point where by the time Halloween ends, anything that wasn’t already themed for Christmas suddenly is and Thanksgiving seems to merely mark the day before “Black Friday.” The dichotomy of Thanksgiving and Black Friday being back to back has always struck me as ironic. On Thursday we give thanks for everything we have been blessed with. Then on the very next day we are racing out and knocking people over to get all the stuff we don’t yet have and probably don’t need for the sake of cheap goods made in China whose prices were inflated just weeks before so the sale on Black Friday would seem like an awesome deal. It's quite depressing really.

But let’s focus on Thanksgiving, a holiday that in America at least is about parades, football, and food. I’m not really sure how many people actually view it as a day to reflect on what they have to be thankful for. However God calls us as Christians to be thankful. In 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 we are told to “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” The day of Thanksgiving should allow us to slow down, fellowship with friends and family, and reflect on all that God has done for us over the past year.

There is always something to be thankful for, even in the midst of hard times and circumstances, God is blessing us. Maybe you are battling an illness but God has placed friends and family in your life to come alongside you and support you. Maybe you are experiencing financial difficulties, but God may be growing your faith and dependence on Him. You might be struggling with grief or depression, but God is still on His throne, He is still in control, and He still loves you and cares for you. We can always find something to be angry, disappointed, depressed, or worried about. However this Thanksgiving be intentional about finding things to be thankful for, joyful for, and blessed by. Take time to prepare your heart for remembering the greatest reason to be thankful of all, the gift of Christ that we will celebrate over the next month at Christmas.

These two holidays really do go nicely together, if we separate what the world has made them into and focus on the true point of Thanksgiving and the real meaning of Christmas. Happy Thanksgiving!

New King James Version (NKJV)
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.