Thankfulness is an essential ingredient for the Christian life.
We have written about this before, but we’ll probably continue to do so until we either (A) we get it right and no longer need to hear it ourselves, or (B) it becomes untrue. Since neither of those will probably ever happen, it bears repeating now.
Of all people Christians ought to be most thankful, as we have the most to be thankful for.
This is the substance of the opening of Peter’s first letter:
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:3-5).
We have been given an inheritance as sons of God, and the inheritance is beyond compare or explanation. We receive this inheritance not as begotten sons, but as those who have been adopted. Adopted children don’t earn their parents’ favor; it’s simply given. And ours has been given to us “through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” Wow. Let’s review:
– Jesus has procured our salvation; we have not.
– God has brought us (undeserving sinners) into His family; He has not begotten us.
– We are now co-inheritors with Christ of the cosmos, recipients of an inheritance that is glorious and defies imagination.
Our inheritance is also guaranteed by the seal of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13), and our current status (right now!) is that of inheritors, although we cannot yet fathom what we’ve been given.
But what about now? I’ve got a messy house, coughing children, a stack of bills and late tuition for my kids’ school.
That may be true, but it’s also not hard to see profound and undeserved blessings in each of those complaints, if we would adopt an attitude of thankfulness. Houses, children, a school for them…they’re all gifts from God! And how dare we receive these things with a grumbling sense of entitlement? After all, we’re not even begotten children of our heavenly Father!
We must remember in this season of Thanksgiving that what sets us apart from the world is that we enjoy not only the gifts we have, but also the Giver of the gifts. Our thanksgiving can be full, where the thanksgiving of the natural man can only be partial. He may be thankful for the turkey, but he cannot know or love Who it ultimately came from unless that too is granted to Him from the Father.
I’ll finish by zooming in to thankfulness when it comes to our kids’ education. Thankfulness is a great weapon in the war on discouragement and despair. It aligns our perspective and keeps us from grumbling. It infuses grace into our own speech. Perhaps you’re frustrated because…
– Your children have left their completed homework on the counter again, or…
– That teacher doesn’t seem to understand how busy your ministry calendar is, or he obviously would lighten up on the reading load, or…
– You just can’t seem to lead by example with joy in your home, since your kids have a better attitude about their work load than you do.
– You just don’t understand why cursive and phonics and math facts are so vital for kindergarteners.
Well, if that’s you, you’re not alone. But remember too that…
– All these things are being used by God to shape us and our kids into the fully-sanctified bride of Christ.
– We have been given all of these things – from children to raise up and sonship by adoption – by grace.
– Thankfulness kills pride. When we realize that God has given us all we enjoy, we also realize that we don’t deserve any of it. This will come out in our speech.
– We are always teaching our children how to love God and how to handle life.
Just think of what sorts of mountains they’ll be able to topple if we can equip them, by God’s grace, to handle all of these challenges with deep belly laughter and an attitude of thankfulness.
May God bless your family richly this Thanksgiving, and drive thankfulness right down to the marrow of your bones.
Risus est bellum!
Jonathan