Giving Thanks

Monday, October 8, 2012
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Listen while you read: "Come Ye Thankful People Come"1 (Lyrics)

John 6:11 – And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted. (NKJV)

Every fall, we celebrate Thanksgiving Day, a day set aside to give thanks for all the blessings in our lives. But do people actually do this, or is it just another day off? For a number of reasons, through time perhaps, we seem to have lost the real feeling and meaning of Thanksgiving Day as it was intended by those who established it.

I'm sure that in days past, when many people had large vegetable gardens, they would look at the fruits of their labour as they stored them in their fruit cellars and storage bins, and they would give thanks to God for the bountiful harvest.

The story of the feeding of the five thousand is a well-known story, often talked about and questioned. As I was reading it the other day, my eyes fell on these words:

Luke 9:16 – Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them. Then he gave them to the disciples to distribute to the people. (NIV)

Although Thanksgiving Day was originally a day to give thanks for the harvest just brought in, I think that we should not only thank the Lord for the results of the harvest, but also reflect on the other blessings that we have in our lives right here and right now, every day. We have so many things to be thankful for.

It is my wish during this Thanksgiving season that we will not lose sight of the fact that we should thank the Lord for all the blessings we receive from Him every day. But I also hope that we will thank the Lord our God for His Son Jesus, who came into the world as a little child, who took on human form and became one of us, who taught us and talked to us and walked with us, who died for our sins so that we may live and have eternal life, and who rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, from whence he shall come to judge the living and the dead. Let us be thankful for that too.

"Thanksgiving Day: A day appointed for giving thanks for divine mercies."

    Count your blessings,
    Name them one by one.
    Count your many blessings,
    See what God has done!
      Johnson Oatman Jr.

Let us count our blessings, and make every day a day for giving thanks.

Prayer: Our Father in heaven, we pray that in all we do, we will see Your will, and that we will indeed be thankful. We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.

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About the author:

Joel Jongkind <austria67@bmts.com>
Meaford, Ontario, Canada

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