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Psalms 26:7 That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works.

Thanksgiving is comprised of two words, thanks and giving. One implies an attitude (thanks) and the other an action that expresses that attitude (giving). This past month many have shown great love to me, my family and the pastors of HBF through expressions of appreciation. I want to take this opportunity once again to say thank you! This past week I was reminded of the importance of being thankful as I spoke to my mother about many of the things she is facing as an aging widow and caretaker of her 92 year old mother. Growing old is not easy but I’m amazed at the grace of so many elder saints who manage the difficulties of age with a grace that is becoming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Life is unpredictable. There are a lot of variables between the absolutes of paying taxes and dying. As I spoke to my mother this past week about the diminishing health of my grandmother and her own eye ailments I was reminded why thanksgiving is so important. Even when we don’t care for our circumstances it is important to give thanks to God. We like to quote 1 Thessalonians 5:18, In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. But it’s easy to forsake Ephesians 5:20 and give thanks “for all things”.

Ephesians 5:20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;

Giving thanks “in all things” seems to be easier than giving thanks “for all things”, I can manage a thankful attitude even if I don’t like my circumstances but to be thankful for circumstances and things I don’t like, find painful or difficult requires another level of faith that can only come from a relationship with God’s word. To be thankful for bad circumstances forces us to acknowledge God’s good character in the face of things we see or experience that appear to be negative.

Claiming Romans 8:28 we must believe that in the worst circumstance it will work out for good because we love God and are the called according to his purpose. In the Old Testament Joseph could have given up in despair time and time again as he experienced great love and great hate, great vision and great derision, great liberty and great incarceration. From all that the Lord delivered Joseph and exalted him as the second in command of Egypt. While Joseph is a type of Christ and shines larger than life in the Old Testament the truth of the matter is Joseph was a real person just like you or me! He really lived and experienced all the ups and downs life could throw at him with a seemingly resilient attitude.

We would be remiss to discount the pain Joseph endured as it was evident when he was finally revealed himself to his brothers, he had a lot of emotion to work through. His brothers, who were certainly grateful Joseph was so gracious were still concerned that he was only holding back his wrath until their father passed away. Relationships with people and our own human emotion seem to cloud things because we are so far from thinking like God thinks. Fortunately for Joseph’s brothers, Joseph was sincere in his forgiveness and his grace toward them as Christ is toward us. Even when we have blown it and made mistakes, we can be thankful knowing the Father has forgiven us for Christ’s sake.

Being thankful for all things is never easy but as I considered all the losses my mother has experienced the past ten years and the amount of final goodbye’s not just to people but to certain aspects of health, comfort and even dreams unfulfilled I realized her pleasant demeanor and thankful attitude is a choice a decision not based in circumstance but faith. When we are young there seem to be more opportunities to course correct but as we grow older and finish our race the attitude we take with us reveals the course we have ran.

Does our attitude express a gratefulness to God even when life is difficult? Do we allow circumstances to control our faith or faith to override our circumstance? Those are the real lessons of Thanksgiving. Many forget that that the first thanksgiving celebrated by the Pilgrims was not only about a blessing of plenty but an acknowledgment of God’s grace to allow them to survive the harsh winters that proceeded it. The majority of the pilgrims had died and passed on to eternity through sickness and hunger the previous years and now there was a remnant left to celebrate the grace of God. Attitude was everything! In today’s world, they may have moaned and groaned of their victimization and poor circumstances but in that era faith filled their heart and the result of their inward attitude was the outward expression of thanksgiving.

The sufferings of these pilgrims has been a theme often repeated and yet it remains an amazing story. Within three months of the Mayflower landing in December 1620, only about 50 of the original hundred survived. Their graves had to be unmarked and grassed over to prevent the Indians discovering how weak the survivors were numerically. Most died from illness, others went more tragically. Together through several years this little band faced danger, toil and famine. "I have seen men stagger," says Winslow, "by reason of faintness for want of food." And yet in the midst of it all there was no spirit of murmuring and discontent. - Davon Huss

The faith that sustains all pilgrims is faith in Christ. The attitude of gratitude that causes us to give thanks not only in all things but for all things is an evidence of the fruit of the Spirit of God and faith in his divine purposes. It is that faith that sustained Joseph as he sojourned in Egypt, it is that faith that sustained the pilgrims as they suffered great attrition through the early years of their pioneering initiative and it is that great faith that sustains the aging saint whose purposes in this life is to prepare everyone they know, love and care about for the next life because at length, we are just passing through. The worst thing we face is death and in that we are thankful for it is our entry into the fulness of the eternal life we possessed the moment we placed our faith in Christ.

If you are reading this and don’t have the hope and assurance of eternal life. I cannot stress how important it is to understand, believe and receive the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior. Jesus Christ was not just a historical figure or “good man”, Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies written centuries before his first coming. He came as a Lamb so he might die for the sins of the world (John 3:16) and satisfy the just wrath of almighty God. He died on the cross atoning for the sins of the world, was buried to rise again victoriously over the grave three days later. Jesus ascended to Heaven 40 days after his resurrection and left his Spirit to convict us of sin and teach us of his saving grace. If you would like to learn more about the claims of scripture how you can know you have eternal life, please contact us at www.hbfcass.org and we will return your message as soon as possible and visit further about how you can secure the hope of eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ.