Just Another Thanksgiving?

Today is Thanksgiving Day in America. This holiday comes every year, so at times, Thanksgiving Day can seem like just a tired tradition. After all, each time is usually about the same as the year before. If your Thanksgiving Day is like mine, some family and friends get together to express their thankfulness and share a meal, such as eating lamb. Okay, so maybe we have some different traditions—since turkey seems to be the standard for Thanksgiving.

If life ever starts to seem “old hat” to you, take some time to stop and remember the reason we do many of these same things year after year.

Sometimes we can grow discontent with cultural or family customs and with doing simple, repetitive things, such as just being thankful. If life ever starts to seem “old hat” to you, take some time to stop and remember the reason we do many of these same things year after year.

Previously, we covered some of the Christian roots for this national holiday. For a Christian, thankfulness extends far beyond Thanksgiving Day—expressing gratitude to our God is a vital part of being a believer in Christ. Suffering and trials come to us all, and it is usually easy to focus on the negative aspects of pain and difficulty. However, a Christian’s outlook should be one of praise and thankfulness to God who has saved us through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Please take a moment to read Ephesians 1:3–14 and consider how our God and Father “has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.” In this passage, we clearly see that God is in control and that he had a plan before the creation of the world. He has adopted us as his children, and because of this, we will receive a glorious, eternal inheritance. Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on the cross has redeemed us from sin, and we are sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise.

These are just a few “spiritual blessings” from the first chapter of Ephesians for which we can praise God. We can never pay him back for all of these good gifts, yet in Christ, we owe him no debt. That profound truth alone is reason enough to help us continually praise and glorify the Lord—not just on Thanksgiving. So during this Thanksgiving Day, see what praises you can find from Ephesians 1:3–14, as well as listing the good things God has done in your life.