Being Thankful

 

What does being thankful really mean? We can’t be thankful for nothing. So, we ought to stop and think about what really matters. Being thankful is being content, since the Lord will provide.

 

Oftentimes, our old sinful nature gets the better of us. Our sinful nature causes us to think we always need more things, like more money and more possessions. Or we look at the world around us with a glass half-empty mentality as we look for all what our sinful mind perceives is wrong with the world through complaints.

 

The thing is, the Lord always provides for both the just and the unjust. He provides daily bread – food, clothing, and shelter – to the just and the unjust.

 

Martin Luther explains it this way in the First Article of the Creed in his Small Catechism:

“I believe that God has made me and all creatures; that He has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and all my senses, and still takes care of them.

“He also gives me clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, wife and children, land, animals, and all I have. He richly and daily provides me with all that I need to support this body and life.

“He defends me against all danger and guards and protects me from all evil.

“All this He does only out of fatherly, divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me. For all this it is my duty to thank and praise, serve and obey Him. This is most certainly true.”

 

Since God provides for all the needs of our body, it is good and right at all times and all places to give thanks to Him. But how? How is it proper to give thanks to God – the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit?

 

Do we say to God, “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”? We could certainly do that, but God doesn’t need our appreciation, since He gives daily bread to all people – the just and unjust.

 

So, what can we do to show our gratitude to God? We come to where He is. We show our gratitude by putting our complete faith and trust in God as our sole provider. And where is He always found? He is found where His Word is purely proclaimed and His Sacrament is rightly administered. The Divine Service is where Jesus is found. We give thanks to God – the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – as we come together at each Divine Service to receive more of what we are thankful for: forgiveness of sins. Each Sunday, we return to receive more of what we are thankful for since true gratitude proceeds from a heart sustained by faith.

 

The almighty and merciful Lord, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, bless and preserve us on this Day of Thanksgiving and all our days ahead! Amen.