Thanksgiving Blessings

By Kirk M. Wellum

Well, it is that time of the year again in Canada, time when Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving. This year I thought it would be good to reflect on all that God has done. The problem that we often run into is that there are so many things going on in our world and in our lives that we can sometimes forget all that the Lord has done and is doing. In the New Testament, lack of thankfulness is a sin and marks people who do not know God, especially in the last days of redemptive history (2 Timothy 3:2). Whereas twice in Colossians (3:15; 4:2) and once in Hebrews (12:28) Christians are told to be thankful, which in the latter passage is linked to worshiping God with reverence and awe. Thankfulness is not an option for Christians. We are to rejoice in the works of God and thank him daily for his many mercies.

Theologians like to distinguish between common and special grace. Common grace being that grace of God that is universally experienced by human beings. The sun that shines, the rain that falls, health, strength, food, drink, families, work, governments and even police and military forces that help to maintain law and order when they are functioning properly. All of these things and many more come from the hand of God. This does not mean that the world is a perfect place, nor does it mean that these blessings are experienced equally by all. The truth of the matter is that we have forfeited our right to any grace and mercy. The amazing thing is not that trouble happens, but that we experience any goodness and happiness at all. God is more than kind to us as sinful creatures who have turned their backs on him in so many ways. The fact is, that we have so much to be thankful for, more than we will ever know. And certainly enough to leave us without excuse if we do not call upon the name of the Lord and worship him.

Beyond common grace, Christian believers experience special grace. This is the grace which works in us to bring us out of our darkness and into the light of God's presence. It is the grace which we first experience when we are made alive in Christ Jesus so that we see our lost condition and we ask him for mercy. This same grace fills us with the Holy Spirit and keeps us walking in the way that we should go in spite of many obstacles and discouragements. How thankful we should be that God does not abandon us to ourselves. That he continues to work in us and with us and he brings other people across our paths who can help us in the walk of faith. We should thank the Lord for Christian brothers and sisters who stand and work with us in the kingdom of God. And we should thank him that in the end he will win the battle. No matter how it appears at the moment, God is working out all things according to his all-wise plan and when he has done what he set out to do he will send his Son, our Savior, from heaven to take us home to be with himself.

This Thanksgiving I am going to take Psalm 146 and use it to help me in giving thanks to God.

Praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord, my soul.
I will praise the Lord all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.

Do not put your trust in princes,
in human beings, who cannot save.
When their spirit departs, they return to the ground;
on that very day their plans come to nothing.

Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord their God.
He is the Maker of heaven and earth,
the sea, and everything in them --
he remains faithful forever.

He upholds the cause of the oppressed
and gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets the prisoner free,
the Lord gives sight to the blind,
the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down,
the Lord loves the righteous.

The Lord watches over the foreigner
and sustains the fatherless and the widow,
but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.

The Lord reigns forever,
your God, O Zion, for all generations.
Praise the Lord.