Gracegiving

Happy Thanksgiving

I’m sure you are very full from the feast and probably a little worn out from the festivities. The holiday season is in full swing now. This past Sunday evening we were studying in Colossians 3 and Paul urges the believers to be thankful (Colossians 3:15-17). He is specifically encouraging the cultivation of thankful hearts among the assembled saints. Even emphasizing that this gratitude should motivate everything that we do as we act in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

But what does it mean to be thankful? The words being translated as “thankful” in the ESV translation are from the root word that means grace. Even our English terminology coming to us from the Latin has this connection to grace. I think that the point is that thankfulness proceeds from a recognition that we are recipients of grace. This means that we have received good things that we do not deserve. In this post, I do not intend to remind you of the reason to be thankful but rather to identify how many of our practices are a celebration of grace.

The Feast

You may think that the food gets too much of the attention when it comes to Thanksgiving. I mean shouldn’t we be thankful whether we have a big meal or just a simple sandwich? But the meal is an expression or celebration of all that we have been given. When the Pilgrims and Indians gathered for the first Thanksgiving the meal was a celebration. Of course we would still have much to be thankful for without all this delicious food but the great extravagance of the food is symbolic of all the lavish ways that we have received more than we could ever deserve. That’s the grace of God on display even in His common grace toward many who do not trust in Him!

The Fellowship

As we enjoy our time spent lingering in lively conversations or playing games with family and friends this also is a celebration of God’s grace. He has blessed us with these people and the relational capacity to know and be known. In the text mentioned earlier, Paul is recognizing the importance of the harmony that is produced by the bonds of love given to us by God (Colossians 3:14). Remember the exhortation that God is love is given to us so that we would love one another (1 John 4:7-21). We cannot truly know God and His love without loving our brothers and sisters in the church. 

It is important to note that for this to be Christ honoring and God glorifying fellowship it is not required that every moment be spent in deep theological discussion or reflections on complex interpretations of Scripture. God is glorified in the gladness and joy of His people. Rejoice Christians, we have some many blessings for which to be thankful.

The Future

Not only do we have all these past and present reasons to be thankful but we have even great promises coming in the future. His mercies are new every morning and that is a reason to rejoice (Lamentations 3:22-24). The security of our future under God's providential plan is a genuine reason for rest with thankful hearts. Even if many details and a full understanding of the future that awaits us (both in this age and in the age to come) may be unclear, we still know that it is according to His purposes and in this we can be thankful. 

So your post-dinner nap is not necessarily succumbing to the sin of laziness but rather a celebration of the gift of rest. This rest is not only the rest from difficult and stressful circumstances, or hard demanding labor; but the greater rest from striving for your own record of righteousness. There does remain a rest for the people of God and that rest is found today in Christ (Hebrews 4:1-13)! I urge you beloved, to fill your hearts with the thankfulness produced by the recognition of God’s free grace.

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