Devotional #18

In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

~1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NKJV)

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We have SO much to be thankful for! The biggest thing we have to be thankful for is our salvation! We were nothing by vile, wicked, wretched sinners, yet the Lord of glory, who was pure, holy, sinless, perfect, and who could not stand sin, chose to die the most horrific death for us. We could never have done anything on our own to come into the presence of God or to enter heaven when we die. For, all of our righteousness was as filthy rags. Yet, the Scriptures tell us that "God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." What glorious grace and love! We do not deserve such mercy, yet Jesus willingly gave up His life in the most torturous way, so that we might have life!

There are so many other blessings to be thankful for as well. Our homes, clothes, families, food, churches, church families, likeminded friends, health, comfort, safety and the list goes on and on and on. God has been so good to us, even though we do not deserve a single one of His blessings! I often stand in awe of just how good the Lord is!

In fact, there is always something to be thankful for. We may be having the worst day of our lives, when everything is going wrong. But we still have our health, our families, our homes, etc. And even if we lost our whole family, home and all of our possessions in a fire, yes, that would be a most horrible tradgedy, but we still have so much to be thankful for! God is just so good to us! Oftentimes, I think He is too good to us! He's just abounding in mercy and grace towards His children, even though His children may have used to been the vilest of sinners.

This verse commands us to give thanks in everything, for this is God's will. First of all, I want to point out that, as Christians, we are to live according to God's will at all times. Our mission and passion in life ought to be to live according to His precepts and commands. We are to live according to His will, and are to obey Him in all things. His will is that we give Him thanks in all things, because when we do so, we are constantly remembering just how good He is, and just how worthy He is to be praised! His goodness is to be constantly before our eyes, and we are to be praising Him and living in such a way as to glorify Him at all times. And this includes always looking for things to be thankful for. Even during those hard and trying times, there is always something to thank God for! So, always, in all situations, be on the lookout for yet another thing to thank Him and praise Him for. No matter how bad your situation may be, we are commanded to always be thanking our Lord and Savior for His goodness!

As you go throughout your day, look for the little blessings in life. Begin a list of all the things/people that you're thankful for. At the end of each day, thank the Lord for each of the blessings that is on that list. Each day praise Him for His goodness to you. And, tell others of His goodness! Witness to others about how great your God is. Even during the tough times, never forget about all the many many blessings that the Lord has so graciously bestowed upon you! And remember to, in everything, give thanks!