We call today “Thanksgiving Sunday” and tomorrow many Canadians will sit down with family and friends to a feast of turkey and trimmings on Thanksgiving Monday. As we do, let’s pause and ask ourselves some important questions…
What Am I Thankful For?
When I ask this question to my grandchildren or in a small group setting, I pretty well know what the most common answers will be — my family and loved ones, my friends, my health, my home, my food, clothing and shelter. They are all good answers. But there are some even more basic things that we sometimes forget.
Life: Last Sunday (Oct. 6) was “Life Chain Sunday” across Canada. I participated with about 70 others at the Welland venue (Niagara Street outside Seaway Mall). It’s a prayerful, peaceful expression of support for the most vulnerable in our society — the unborn. They have no voice, few rights and very limited protection. Our society’s view about the unborn (and the sanctity of life) has changed radically over the last 50 years. God’s view has not. Even my pro-choice friends are glad to be alive. In spite of life’s challenges, we can all be thankful for life. Jesus said, “I have come to give life and life to the full.” (see John 10:10)
Freedom: In three weeks (Nov. 3), many churches will mark the “International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church”. It’s easy for us in Canada to take our freedom for granted. My generation never had to go to war to defend our country’s freedom. But my father’s generation did and I’m sure they appreciated it much more as a result. They risked (or gave) their lives for our freedom —freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly, freedom to vote.
Believers in many countries today don’t have those freedoms. They are secret believers. If discovered, they can lose opportunities for education and jobs, and even risk imprisonment and death. Most of Canada’s half-million international students want to stay here. Why? More opportunity, more security and… more freedom. Some come from countries which deny or restrict freedom. “Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.” (see Hebrews 13:3)
Faith: Believers put this one first because it’s eternal and transcends this life. Everything else is temporal. Sincere repentance and faith in the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross in payment for our sins gives us forgiveness and salvation. This free gift is cause for eternal thanksgiving.
Who Am I Thankful To?
For non-believers (or not-yet believers), this question can be a bit tricky and hard to answer. If God is not in the picture, who am I thanking? Myself? My parents? My spouse? My employer? My political leaders? My lucky stars? I suspect that many Canadians enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday… and simply thank no one. They take their blessings for granted as though they were rights. For believers, the answer is easy. We thank God. We recognize that all of our blessings come ultimately from His hand. “Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, His love endures forever.” (see Psalm 136:1)
How Can I Show My Thankfulness Every Day?
For believers, the answer is by living wholeheartedly for God. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.” (see Matthew 22:37-38). In other words, love God with everything you’ve got.
We do this by living obedient lives and putting Him in the centre of our lives. “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.” (see Matthew 6:33) My wife and I put the words “God first” inside our wedding rings to remind us of this.
This is how we can show God our thankfulness. And this is how the one day we call “Thanksgiving” can become for us a daily reality called “Thanksliving”.
Rob Weatherby is a retired pastor.
