Rooted In Thankfulness

Thanksgiving week is upon us and once again we are baffled by how the year has flown by. We spend the day with family and offer a word of gratitude in exchange for a slice of pie. Where is our thankfulness rooted?

Where We Came From

The first Thanksgiving was not the pretty picture we see depicted on TV or magazine covers today. Colonists were recovering from the many diseases and malnutrition that had plagued the people since their arrival. Adaptation to a new land was hard. There wasn’t a long table with chairs for everyone to sit at. No pies and desserts could be found at this meal. However, it was a celebratory meal that took place in a response of gratitude for a successful harvest. The Pilgrims could have easily responded differently. After all, consider all the hardships they had encountered up to this point. But through it all, they celebrated the goodness of God to provide for their needs.

Why Respond With Gratitude?

1 Chronicles 16:34 states, “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; His love endures forever.” Perhaps on its own, this passage is reassuring of our reasoning to be thankful, but consider the next verse. “Cry out, ‘Save us, God our Savior; gather us and deliver us from the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name, and glory in your praise.'” This cry of desperation doesn’t lend itself to thankfulness.

So why be thankful when we are going through circumstances from which we want to be delivered? Because God is good. Regardless of our circumstances, He is good.

Have you had a tough year? God is good. Have you had a great year? God is good. Are you in a season of plentiful harvest? God is good. Are you struggling to make ends meet? God is still good.

Practice An Attitude of Gratitude

This week as you sit down with your family, we encourage you to consider the root of your thankfulness. Is it circumstantial or is it rooted in the foundation that we give thanks because no matter what, God is good? Do you have a roof over your head? Do you have food to eat? Have needs been met in the last year that you forgot to be grateful for?

Root yourself in thankfulness and you will grow to live today and everyday as a grateful response to our good God.

Blessings To You,
Jeff Rutt

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