"Thank You, Jesus" (November, 2022)
What do you think about when you remember this month of November? We may think of the necessary preparations for Christmas and the beautiful fall leaves making their way onto our lawns. Most of all, we think about the special holiday of Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving should be celebrated at all times. I am not talking about gathering around a table every day and having a special meal or taking the day off. …But we should have thankful hearts to God for his amazing blessings. “Give thanks unto the Lord, call upon his name, make known his deed among the people” (1 Chron. 16:8). “In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” (1 Thes 5:18). Now, we don’t thank the Lord for the bad things but thank Him even in the bad times; because He is the God, Who will take care of us through the bad or deliver us from it. We read in 2 Corinthians 9:15, “Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.” We know that Jesus is our “unspeakable gift”, but this is specifically speaking about the gift of salvation that Jesus provided for us in His sacrificial death. He is worthy to be thanked and praised both now and forever.
We see in 1 Chronicles 16:8 that we are to “make known his deeds among the people.” “And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving and rehearse His deeds with shouts of joy and singing” (Ps. 107:22 Amp.). Now, we could give thanks all day, every day. There is so much to be thankful for, but I want to share a few things that I will “rehearse His deeds” before you.
I knew my husband, Robert, when we were in high school. We dated in my junior year and married in 1972. We celebrated with our family our 50th wedding anniversary on October 21 of this year. I have no words to express my appreciation to God for blessing me with such a Godly man as a husband! I am grateful for his love to me and to our four children. He has been a good example of a Christian husband and dad. I am also so grateful for a family that loved us so much that they gave us a celebration party that was beyond anything that I would have ever dreamed. “Thank you, Jesus.”
We had a precious lady in our church that offered to do pictures of us for our anniversary at no charge. She did an excellent job. Another lady made us a wonderful video showing many events through our 50 years. She also did this as a gift to us. “Thank you, Jesus.”
Our prayer group presented us with flowers, a card, money, and a gift card to celebrate our special anniversary. Their words played a joyful melody to our hearts. “Thank you, Jesus.”
My grandson just started a job in a department store. I had mentioned that I would like to have a special shampoo for Christmas. He had made some bonus money, and he wanted to use that and his discount to purchase the shampoo for me. He didn’t want to wait ‘til Christmas. He wanted to give it to me as soon as he purchased it. “Thank you, Jesus.”
It is difficult for us to rake up all our leaves. Just today, our daughter, her husband, and their two sons came, raked, and bagged leaves. There were 40 bags of leaves. “Thank you, Jesus.”
Another grandson texted Robert last month on his birthday. He told him that he wanted to wish him a “Happy Birthday”, but he mainly wanted to say, “Grand-dad, I love you.” Wow!!! “Thank you, Jesus!”
Let us rehearse our thanksgiving to Jesus and to one another for some of the things that He has done for us. Please make this an important tradition at your Thanksgiving celebration. Also, please know that I am thankful for you.