Reason For Thanksgiving

This is the time of year when people begin to look retrospectively at their lives, and seek out a reason for gratitude and contentment.

We are all looking for a fulfillment that will carry us through the next year to come.

We are, in fact, students of our own life experiences; hopefully learning from our mistakes, realizing how to forgive, making right those offenses we have committed, and finding reasons to be thankful.

Thankfulness is a choice we all have to make. It is not a natural response to life experiences; on the contrary, it is a conscious decision we must make when thinking about our situations. This thankfulness can, and does, draw us closer to God; and the lack thereof can drive us farther from Him.

In Romans, the Apostle Paul was teaching about this reality in the nation of Israel; and he told of how they did not honor God, nor were thankful for all that He had done for them. This lead to their hearts being darkened and to them becoming fools.

You know, we place so many conditions on our gratitude to God; and we have Him on such a performance basis in terms of our faith. Honestly, we put more conditions on God than we do on anything else in our lives.

After we establish a relationship with Him, we require God to continue proving Himself in order to keep us serving Him. Why?
I want to ask you a question…and I want you to be honest. When you consider your life, your whole life; and you lay it all on the table.

If you were to place every Polaroid picture of every moment and memory on a table, laying out all of your days there to see and observe; and you considered your whole life in a moment. Would you say that God has been fair to you? Honestly.

I would like for you to consider a scripture that I think brings a profound understanding to this question. Psalms 103:8-12 says: 8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.

9 He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever.

10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor punished us according to our iniquities.

11 For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; 12 As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
We I read this text I realize that God has not been fair to me, He has been more than fair.

Thank goodness that He wasn’t fair, because if He had done to me what I deserve, I would be utterly destroyed by His judgment of the sin in my life.

I don’t know about you…but when I look at the snap shots of my life laying there on the table; there are pictures there that I am not proud of.

There have been moments in my life when I was a pretty horrible person; and still, God loved me. For that…I am thankful!

This holiday season, as you are looking for reasons to be thankful, and for reasons to continue searching out God in your life, consider this; God has been more than fair with you. Instead of destroying you because of your wickedness (and we all have our levels of wickedness), God has loved you and reached out to you with eternal salvation.

He has been merciful, tender, gracious, and constant. God loves you with an everlasting love…and that is reason enough for thanksgiving.