Another Canadian Thanksgiving is upon us. Most of us are looking forward to spending this weekend with our loved ones. We will likely enjoy a wonderful turkey dinner together and spend time talking and sharing over the course of the weekend. We will also enjoy an extra day to play hooky on Monday.  🙂  There are extra groceries to buy, menus to plan and perhaps baking to do.  It’s quite easy to get caught up in all the preparations for the weekend and especially for our Thanksgiving dinner.

This Thanksgiving, why not try and keep God as our focal point. After all, it is His awesome provisions that allow us to celebrate Thanksgiving in the first place. We all have so much to be thankful for. We still live in a country where we are allowed so many freedoms. We can hold differing political opinions, attend church and walk in freedom on the streets without fear of being shot or imprisoned. Let’s not take it for granted.

This Thanksgiving, keep a heart of gratitude while you’re preparing or enjoying. The word of God tells us how important it is to give thanks to God for all things. Most of all, remember the price Christ paid for our freedom. That alone is enough for our hearts to be overflowing with thankfulness.

Both the Old and New Testament are full of verses reminding us of the importance of thanking God  in all and for all circumstances and situations in our lives. Even those times of difficulty and stretching.  Here are a few…

1Chronicles 16:34 NIV ³⁴ Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;  His love endures forever.

Psalm 30:12 NIV¹⁸ I will give you thanks in the great assembly; among the throngs I will praise you.

Psalm 95:2 NIV ² Let us come before Him with thanksgiving and extol Him with music and song.

Ephesians 5:20 NIV  ²⁰ Always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 12:28 NIV ²⁸ Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NIV ¹⁶ Rejoice always, ¹⁷ pray continually, ¹⁸ give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.  

My Thanksgiving hope for us all is that we will never take for granted all that God did for us when He allowed His son to be offered up on the cross, “ But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 15:57 NIV

We serve an amazing, loving God that spared no expense in offering us a way back to intimate fellowship with Him through Christ. Don’t leave Him out of your Thanksgiving celebrations.

Happy THANKS giving everyone!

1 Thessalonians 5:18 in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.