The Biblical foundations of Thanksgiving are based upon God’s covenant promises and where our
blessings ultimately come from. We need to seriously consider and think about what this means
during this Gratitude Month, as all our blessings are gifts from God, lest we forget that everything
we have is held in God’s eternal trust account…
Let me encourage you to ponder and reflect upon Deuteronomy 8:17-19, which alerts us to take
heed where all blessings come from: “Do not say to yourself, ‘My power and the might of my own
hands have gotten me this wealth.’ But remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you
the power to get wealth, so that He may confirm His covenant that He gave to your ancestors, as
He is doing today. If you do forget God, and start taking up with other gods, serving and worshiping
them, I testify against you right now as giving you firm warning: that will be the end of you, it
will be destruction and doom.”
In the New Testament, Jesus reminds us to put our spiritual life before our monetary value systems
in Matthew 6:21, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” And Jesus also said, “I
am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).
Life becomes more abundant when it is surrounded by the treasure of Christian values, yet without
God, life becomes cheap and easily discarded. No wonder our world has been given such a firm
warning to choose God.
In this season, we do well to remember our national reasons why we give thanks to God. President
George Washington first declared a national Thanksgiving in 1789. President Abraham Lincoln
formally proclaimed in 1863 that the last Thursday in November should be a National Celebration
of Thanksgiving. And back in 1941, the entire U.S. Congress actually agreed with one another to
establish the permanent holiday of Thanksgiving. But, strange as it may seem in our divided world,
it is now the work of the Church to maintain the foundations of Thanksgiving in our national
conscience.
During this Gratitude Month, let us thank God for the blessings of abundant life through Jesus
Christ. May we remember why Jesus is the reason for the season… It’s about God’s blessings of
abundant life, and how all our holidays are, first and foremost, gifts from God. We’re invited to
come back to Christ and His Church! Remember to be thankful that you have been given every
spiritual blessing, because God gives you the power to have more than enough faith, hope, peace,
joy and love.
I am Grateful in Christ’s Agape Love for All of You!
Rev. Jonathan Singleton, Pastor