Thankfulness means ThanksLIVING. It’s a choice we make day by day. Sometimes moment by moment.
ThanksLIVING: A Cost
When facing punishment for his sin, King David turned back to God and His great mercy. The prophet Gad, sent by God, told David to build an altar on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, as the Lord had commanded. When King David told Araunah he had come to buy his threshing floor, Araunah told the king to take it and use it as he wished. But King David knew he could not give thanks on an altar that cost him nothing.
But the king replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on buying it, for I will not present burnt offerings to the Lord my God that have cost me nothing.”
—2 Samuel 24: 24
ThanksLIVING: Brokenness
On the night He was betrayed, Jesus gave thanks and established communion. Often called the Eucharist, this is the Greek word which means to “give thanks” or “thanksgiving”. And in the middle of that word is “charis”, meaning grace.
“And He took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it …”
—Luke 22:19
Our hearts may come to Him broken, but God mends broken things. He lifts us up to the place where we can allow our hearts and lives to be filled with thankfulness.
ThanksLIVING: This Is The Day
On this day that we literally and intentionally call “Thanksgiving”, when we gather with family and friends to “break bread” and commune, let’s remember Jesus’s example of giving thanks.
Whether we are in the midst of traumatic circumstances or on the mountaintop, we are called to Thanksgiving.
To give thanks.
To be thankful.
To ThanksLIVING.
“Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”
—1 Thessalonians 5: 18
*Special Thanks: Pixabay and Unsplash for use of all free images: Feature image Photo by JillWellington on Pixabay. #1 Image by a1l1e1x on Pixabay, #2 Image by StockSnap on Pixabay, #3 Image by AIMagicByDesign from Pixabay, #4 Image by congerdesign from Pixabay, Cozy Intrigue Cover Photo by Albertfotofilms from Pixabay
Cozy Intrigue ~ Janet Campbell 