When looking up the word thankful in the dictionary it simply stated: a feeling of being grateful. Naturally I swapped out the word thankful
in the “search” box and clicked on it to look up the definition of grateful. It
said: a feeling of being thankful. There are some words that are hard to define
without using the word itself. Thankful,
apparently, is one of those words.
I didn’t get very far with the online dictionary. Continuing
on in my effort to find meaning to this holiday, I am challenged to define the
word myself. If I had to use my own words to identify the meaning of thankful I would say it is an acknowledgement
or an understanding that we have something we neither earned nor deserve and
yet are able to reap the benefit of it. As
an illustration, I can express that as a mom, my heart is overflowing with precious
thoughts of my children that I am thankful for. What did I do to deserve
these 5 gifts in my life? Nothing. I could not create these children on my own;
I could not earn the blessing of being a mom. Plain and simple: God is the
creator of all things and is the sole factor that has allowed me to be in this
position. I am thankful.
As we celebrate this Thanksgiving, may we go beyond making a
casual list of things we are happy to own or be a part of. May we truly acknowledge the Maker of all
things, Giver of Life and Lover of our souls. He has bestowed upon us all good things but most of all salvation. He does not give
us what we deserve, what we have earned, or what we can accomplish on our own.
He loves us unconditionally and sacrificed His son Jesus to give us unending
life in Him.
To be thankful is to praise our Lord and King with our
hearts, minds and lives.
Prayer: Our
hearts are overwhelmed with praise for ALL You have done, oh Lord! May we be
grateful not just on this holiday but every day for all that You give us, even
when we don’t deserve the blessings. We are so thankful!
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