The Joy of Thanksgiving

Nehemiah 8:10

And Nehemiah continued, "Go and celebrate with a feast of rich foods and sweet drinks, and share gifts of food with people who have nothing prepared. This is a sacred day before our Lord. Don't be dejected and sad, for the joy of the LORD is your strength!"

Each year since the Pilgrims held the first Thanksgiving celebration feast in the early 1600’s, a day has been set aside in this country to take the time to come together to give thanks for all that we have been blessed with as a nation and as individuals.  For followers of Jesus, it has been easy to give thanks and sincerely praise the Lord.  As His disciples, we truly have been blessed.  But more importantly, we have recognized/learned where our real blessings come from.  We have continued to recognize our blessings and the source of our blessings as we went through pain, trouble, conflict and trials during different junctures in our lives.  We may not have always been particularly happy about our circumstances, but we learned along the way that we could always find our joy and our strength in Jesus Christ.

On a national basis, the story is much different.  As our nation has become more and more secular, a large portion of the population has spent their lives seeking happiness without any understanding of the true joy of living for Christ. Non-believers have bought into the idea that they can control their own happiness.  It can be devastating to them when they realize that happiness is not something that they can create.  It can be crushing to them when they realize that their circumstances are not something that they have control over.  They have no place to turn when they hit their inevitable periods of pain, trouble, conflict and trials.

Let us take our thanks beyond the Thanksgiving table.  Let us take time each day to give thanks for the source of our joy, Jesus Christ.  Let us delight in Him.  Let us praise Him for what He has done for us, how He is still working in us and what He promises us for all eternity.   Let us show the world the powerful joy that is the source of our strength.  Let us show the world how His joy transforms us and motivates us to serve Him.  Let our joyful lives become a most appealing witness for a lost and hurting world.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for the many blessings that You have poured onto our lives through Your grace, Your mercy and Your lovingkindness.  We thank You for the trials that You have allowed in our lives which have deepened our trust in You.  We bless the name of Jesus who provided the way for our eternal blessings.  We pray, Father, that Your Holy Spirit will inspire us to take the joy that we have in Christ to share with those around us so that Your joy and gladness can be theirs for today and forever.  We ask all these things in the name of the Joy of the World, Jesus Christ.