This week in the United States we plan to celebrate Thanksgiving. As always, my family and I plan to remain in Kentucky, making a trip to Appalachia and then to the central part of the state. As always, we are thankful for this time… and for the food… and for family… and for the food.
Of course, life in the Kingdom is a life lived with gratitude. Everyday for us is Thanksgiving, not just one day a year. From God’s character to His grace to us, we are a grateful people. True thanksgiving only begins and continues with divine relationship.
In this post, I want to challenge you to look at thanksgiving from a perspective other than the typical Thanksgiving-holiday-way.
On several occasions, the Apostle Paul revealed a thankful heart for those who recently had come into the Kingdom (Remember, Paul’s writings were written to new believers and recently planted churches.). For example, we read:
“First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world” (Rom 1:8, ESV).
“I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus” (1 Cor 1:4, ESV).
“I thank my God in all my remembrance of you” (Phil 1:3, ESV).
Part of his gratitude came from the fact that the Kingdom had grown through the dissemination of the gospel to those now Kingdom citizens and that same gospel was sounding forth from them to others.
As we think missiologically about the world around us, let’s remember to be thankful for those who have come out of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of light. Let’s remember to be thankful for our new brothers and sisters who are sharing the hope they have discovered.
Of course, let’s be thankful this week for God’s other blessings to us, such as family, friends, food, days off work, etc.
But, it is my hope and prayer that if we are blessed to experience Thanksgiving 2011, we will be able to give thanks for the many who have come to know Jesus through our love and sharing.
Let’s not separate thanksgiving from gospel advancement.
For my U. S. readers, I pray that you have a great Thanksgiving holiday. And for the rest of you, I pray that you will have a great Thursday, even without the chicken and dumplings. 🙂
A good reminder to remember an important work of God at Thanksgiving. I do look forward to what God intends to do during the coming year, and what a good thing to remember His work next Thanksgiving for what He’s done since this one. Thanks for the reminder.
Dear Sir/Madam,
Dear child of God,
Warm greetings in christ to you. This is a greeting from Ethiopia, one of the oldest countries in Africa. We are the believers of Jesus Christ as our personal savior and worship him in every situation existing in our country. Here, we are motivated to salute and write to you by searching the online services you release with the same trust and belief in God to us. That is, our congregation is named as Ethiopian Misgana church, Bonga chapel. The meaning of Misgana is thanksgiving which is similar to your vision and mission statements. We are keen to communicate with you and pray to each other in the coming days. Get in touch for better communication for spreading the Gospel of Christ all over the world. Thank you so much for your understanding and allowing us to join your channel.
With regards,
Getachew Robo, Email: grehobot@gmail.com
Chair, church elders fellowship
Thank you for your kind words, Getachew. May the Lord continue to bless and use you greatly in His Kingdom work.