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

We are going to take a break from our look through the fruits of the spirit to take a deeper dive into the holiday season, with our Thanksgiving and Christmas devotional series.

Thanksgiving doesn’t align with any “Christian” holiday. It’s no Christmas or Easter, but it applies a very specific truth that Scripture gives us when we are thinking about what we have in our lives.

The verse above from 1 Thessalonians perfectly portrays the heart posture of Thanksgiving. “Rejoice always,” “pray continually” and “give thanks.”

Some families have a tradition during the holidays to go around the table before a meal to say what they’re thankful for. Most commonly, Thanksgiving is reduced to, “I’m thankful for my friends and family” – a very dry and easy go-to answer in this pressured situation.

However, as Christians, we have so much more to be thankful for. It’s very fascinating that Thanksgiving is a few weeks before the time where we celebrate the day our Savior was born.

Thanksgiving prepares our hearts to know that we have Jesus to be thankful for. We are thankful for the cross and what it means to us. We are thankful for all of the blessings that God has given us. Blessings can come in the form of friends and family, but we should also think about blessings of a home, a meal and a community that will always be there for us.

Thanksgiving is a time to tune our hearts in preparation for the month-long celebration of Jesus’ birth. By putting our hearts in a posture of thankfulness, we are able to stand in awe of what the Lord has given unto us.

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