Thanksgiving: A Day to Put Into Practice

Thanksgiving has now come and gone. For individuals not living in the United States, that probably doesn’t mean a whole lot, but for most Americans, this is the most important day of the year.

Why is this celebration essential? It is essential because it reminds us of the necessity to guard our hearts through difficult times, like Scripture says in Proverbs 4:23 “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.” Whereas our hearts are too often filled with bitterness, disappointment, and doubts.

Thanksgiving gives us the opportunity, and reminds us, to thank God in all circumstances, for his kindness, and provision that never fails us.

Our heavenly Father wants to renew our first love. “But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first! Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at first. If you don’t repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches.” Revelation 2:4-5

How many times in the past few months have we found ourselves fighting and wrestling with God, much like Jacob, instead of letting Him have victory in our lives?

Why?

Because we, too often, deny Him access to some of the dark parts of our hearts. Those parts where we placed our deepest hurts and pains, fearing that one day, they will resurface, unannounced and uncontrollable. We have blocked access to them, but their very existence in our lives keeps us from the full blessing of God, and our own healing.

We could be suffering from disappointments, false hopes, of unaccomplished or disappointing dreams… Do we still even dream? We have heard of others speaking of the miracles and healing, and experienced them so little ourselves. We had big dreams and expectations, but the daily challenges of life, injustices, oppositions, and jealousies have slowly replaced them. Our hearts then focused on what we weren’t doing, and what we didn’t have. 

Did God forget His promises? We all have a list of disappointments, like the financial difficulties, difficulties in the home, the lack of recognition in our work, etc. The list could go on to expand in many different ways. Because of all of this, some of us have lost sight of our Father’s grace. This is a grace that never ceases to say “I will never fail you, I will never abandon you.” Hebrews 13:5

So today, we propose that we all have our very own, unique, day of “Thanksgiving”. A day to put into practice all of God’s promises for us, and rebuild our hearts.

“And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” Ephesians 5:20

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7

“And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.” Colossians 3:7

“Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18

Practical tool: Take a notebook, and every day, write down 5 things, persons, or events, for which you are grateful to God for. The choice is yours! And then thank God for who He is, for who He is in your life, for what He has already provided, His gifts, His deliverance, His healing, and you will see your heart awaken, rejuvenate, and be restored to joy while counting God’s blessings in your life.

Happy “Day of Thanks”! Let’s have a Thanksgiving Day every day!

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