Happy Thanksgiving to All!
This Thanksgiving day, we are reminded of the many reasons to give thanks to God. Thanksgiving is not just a holiday we celebrate once a year but should be an attitude of the heart. We thank God through His Son Jesus Christ for the riches of His grace. God should be the ultimate recipient of our expressions of gratitude. It is however interesting to note that the Bible has recorded instances when Jesus Himself gave thanks to God. It is important to study how Jesus, God the Son gave thanks so we can learn: 1) To model our attitude and act of thanksgiving from Jesus Himself. 2) To learn about the occasions when Jesus openly thanked God the Father. 3) To find a common theme in Jesus' thanksgiving that we can identify with and embrace as a constant reason for our own thanksgiving to God. We will see that there is a central theme in Jesus' thanksgiving to God and it assures us how important you are to God. We are never overlooked and forgotten in the eyes of our Lord and Savior. Here are a few examples: Luke 10:21 - "In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I THANK YOU, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will." John 11:41 - "So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I THANK YOU that you have heard me." Matthew 15:36 - "...he took the seven loaves and the fish, and having GIVEN THANKS he broke them and gave them to the disciples." Luke 22:19 - "And he took bread, and when he had GIVEN THANKS, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In these four occasions, the Lord Jesus gave thanks for the food to feed a hungry crowd, for his disciples coming back from a mission trip, before raising someone from the dead, and in the institution of the Lord's supper. The common theme in Jesus' thanksgiving is our redemption. In other words, our redemption through reconciliation with God through His seeking, nourishing, saving, raising us and His using us in the ministry of reconciling others to God. At the center of it is Jesus ' broken body and shed blood that drew us near to God. I am thankful that Jesus was even so thankful that he became man and that He would suffer and die for the purpose of our redemption. Hallelujah, what a Savior!
If redeeming us brings thanksgiving to the heart of the Savior Himself, we should never feel alone, left out and forgotten. Jesus remains faithful to His children and is even thankful for the opportunities to draw us close to Him anytime, anywhere.
Brother and sister, this Thanksgiving day, remember that you are so loved by Jesus that He thanked the Father for the opportunity of redeeming you. This should lead us to have a mindset of giving Jesus all we have out of our own thanksgiving to God for Him, God's greatest gift.
Have a blessed thanksgiving with your loved ones. Pastor Ramon
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