“1) Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth. 2) Serve the Lord with jubilation; Come before Him with rejoicing. 3) Know that the Lord Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. 4) Enter His gates with thanksgiving, And His courtyards with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name. 5) For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting And His faithfulness is to all generations.” Psalm 100
We have entered the month of November, and as we do, our eyes turn to the fourth Thursday of the month, Thanksgiving Day. It’s a day we look forward to with great anticipation. We look forward to lots of good food—what is your favorite Thanksgiving Day food? We also look forward to wonderful memories being made with friends and family—who are you looking forward to seeing this Thanksgiving? Thanksgiving is also a very special time of the year where we express our thanks to God for all of His many blessings. And when you think about it, we have so much to be thankful for. If we were to do as the old hymn of the faith says and literally, “count our many blessings,” I believe we would be surprised at just how much we are blessed. Let me encourage you to take the time to sit down with pen and paper and write down all the things that you are thankful for. Write out a list of the things that God has blessed you with. After you have comprised your list, spend some time offering God a prayer of praise and thanksgiving for His goodness to you. As the Psalmist encourages us in Psalm 100, let’s be found faithful singing praises to the Lord because He is God. If you have been saved, be thankful that you are one of His. Let’s enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courtyards with praise. Let’s give thanks to Him and bless His holy name because God is good, His mercy is everlasting, and His faithfulness is to all generations. As the old saying goes, “God is good all the time and all the time God is good.” And because God is always good, we should always be thankful for His goodness. We should be thankful, not just on Thanksgiving Day, but every day of the year. Let me encourage you, at every opportunity you get, to give thanks to God for all of His many blessings.
