This time of year hearts turn toward home and those things most dear to us. With this in mind, we invite your comments and reflections to this column. As the editor of AD 2018, I do the same by inviting you into my world. Using broad categories like faith, family and freedom, my mention of things I'm most thankful for is followed by excerpts of another insightful article by Dr. MacArthur. And for perspective, we end with President Washington's Thanksgiving Proclamation.
Think of all the dimensions that you draw perspective from. For me, I think in terms of being a husband (to my wife), father (to my girls), son (to my parents), brother (to my siblings), friend, colleague, citizen and so on...but of all the things that define me, nothing colors my worldview more than my faith. As such, I give thanks to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for adopting the elect into their family, by grace through faith in Christ.
Also like you, family and friends are usually foremost in my thinking. Whether it's protection or provision, doing my best at steering clear of the cultural influences that would divide us, or staying buoyant during difficult economic times, these are challenges that test our faith and trouble our souls. But through it all, I consider myself most blessed to have been entrusted a calling to such a noble mission.
In closing, I'd also mention our nation's cherished freedoms (e.g. of speech, assembly and religion) in pursuit of life, liberty and happiness, which provides a standard of living other parts of the world only dream about. But in reality, freedom isn't free. Instead it's preserved by our men and women in uniform stationed around the globe, and it's passed from generation to generation by citizens who engage civically.
For these areas, and so much more...I'm thankful.
Consider leaving a comment on what you're thankful for (at the end of this post).
Rekindling the Gratitude (excerpts)
Dr. John MacArthur
The Thanksgiving season is a wonderful time to heighten your sensitivity to the blessings bestowed by God. Thanksgiving grabs your attention, shakes the cobwebs loose, and reminds you of all God's most precious gifts. That's one reason Thanksgiving has always held such a special place in my heart. It rekindles the kind of God-centered gratitude that our Lord demands and deserves--the kind that should be on our lips year round.
To help stimulate that kind of deeper gratitude, my family has adopted a Thanksgiving tradition we've found extremely helpful. Each year after our Thanksgiving meal we gather in our living room and simply recite the blessings of God that have touched our lives. One by one we circle the room, each one of us expressing our gratitude to God for His many physical and spiritual blessings.
Allow me to share with you (four) blessings that deeply touch me every year and prompt me to thank God. Perhaps it'll catch and you'll be able to rekindle your gratitude!
You're Saved and You Know It
No work of God's is more beyond my comprehension yet closer to my heart and more worthy of gratitude than salvation. Before coming to know Christ, each of us lived in a self-imposed prison. Guilty, condemned, spiritually blind, and with no means to pay our debt, our destiny was one of eternal separation from God. But Christ not only rescued us from the power and penalty of our sins, He also lifted us to a place of blessing. He delivered us from punishment and brought glory. He took away the threat of hell and gave us the hope of heaven. Salvation is the essence of Christianity. Thanking God for saving us should be the unceasing occupation of our lips--only a stone-cold heart could offer anything less.
The Whole Truth and Nothing but the Truth
Watch a half hour of news and tell me if the word chaos doesn't come to mind. The world is gripped by it. Conflict abounds as religious, philosophical, and political systems collide. Moral, social, and economic problems proliferate but solutions are scarce. The political process is drifting rudderless on a sea of confusion. Life is all questions and no answers. There is no concrete guideline or standard by which to judge good and bad, right and wrong. The suppression of truth exacts a tremendous price.
But thanks to God, you and I have an eternal, objective, incontestable, irrevocable standard we can depend on for all matters of life. From the truth of Scripture we can understand the ebb and flow of life better than all the educators, philosophers, politicians, and social pundits combined. God's Word offers us a window on the real issues people battle. We know how to be good employees, to love our spouses, to raise our families, to truly love our neighbors. Meaning in life is not a question, it's a fact. I thank God for revealing His truth to us and for allowing me the privilege of studying and teaching it.
Life's Storms
Perhaps the most difficult time to be thankful is when we're in the midst of a setback, a challenge, or a trial. When the storm comes, giving thanks is rarely our first reaction. Being thankful for adversity is never easy, but it is always right. From experience I know the difficult times are the ones in which God seems to be most at work in our lives, strengthening our weak spots, comforting our hurts, and drawing us to greater dependence. Businessman John Marriott offered this perspective: "Good timber does not grow with ease; the stronger the wind, the stronger the trees." Let's not neglect to thank God for the strong winds He allows to blow our direction.
The People Who Make a Difference
Someone once made this wise observation: "Friends in your life are like pillars on your porch. Sometimes they hold you up, and sometimes they lean on you. Sometimes it's just enough to know they're standing by."
That's certainly been true in my life. I thank God daily for the many people who add so much color and warmth to my life. My best friend and wife, Patricia. Loving children and grandchildren. All who labor with me for the sake of the gospel. Each one enriches me greatly and is a very personal gift directly from the hand of God. I'm grateful for the friends--seen and unseen--whom I've been able to lean on, and who, to some small degree, have been able to lean on me.
Let me encourage you not to allow this Thanksgiving to come and go without taking inventory. Biblical gratitude isn't something that should pass from our minds with the passing of a season. It's an attitude, a God-focused response to circumstances that should pervade each moment of each day of each year.
May you, your family, and friends enjoy a blessed Thanksgiving season...all year!
http://www.gty.org/Resources/Articles/A236
http://www.wallbuilders.com/LIBissuesArticles.asp?id=3584
By the President of the United States of America.
A Proclamation
Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me "to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness."
Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted; for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquir ing and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.
And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations, and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shown kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally, to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.
Given under my hand, at the city of New York, the third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine.
George Washington
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