EACH YEAR, the last Thursday of November is set aside in our country to be a holiday of giving thanks. Back in 1863, Abraham Lincoln proclaimed Thanksgiving to be a national holiday, and ever since then, Americans have enjoyed this special holiday complete with delicious food, parades, family gatherings, football games, etc.

Those who don’t believe in God, have difficulty answering the question of to whom do you give thanks, but as Christians, we understand this holiday to be all about giving thanks to our God for all the gifts He graciously gives to us.

The old song rings true… count your blessings and name them one by one, and you will see all that God has done. The Bible tells us in Ephesians 5:20 to give thanks to the Lord for ALL things. We need to thank God for the good, but also for the things that are not so good. The only way we can do that is to truly trust that our God is sovereign over all. Trusting in Jesus through the good times and the bad is the key to experiencing true joy.

There’s one thing that we should be thankful for that makes all the others pale in comparison. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:19, “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” Nothing, absolutely nothing compares to the gift that we have in our salvation through Jesus. We will give thanks every day in eternity for the incredible, INDESCRIBABLE GIFT OF ETERNAL LIFE IN CHRIST!