Psalms 107:Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, For His mercy is everlasting. This Psalm was written in response to God's great rescue from troubles. When we are fearful, God says "Do not fear!" When we are hopeless God says "You can trust me." When we are heavily burdened and our hearts are hurt God says "Give me your burdens and take mine on you. For it is light!" The Prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 61:3 talks about the "exchange" and the promise of our Savior, Jesus Christ where he says 3 To console those who mourn in Zion,
To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”
Our God is "on point" when it comes to His children. Those born-again people know and realize the presence of the Holy Spirit in times of trouble and we also resonate and repeat the above verses in Psalms 107 and say THANKS!! Our God is faithful and always gives us the ultimate trade-out, beauty for ashes. So our thanks should also serve as a reminder of His "continued" faithfulness today and in the days ahead.
Of course, we try to couple our love for country with our love for God and just make it one big "thank you fest", but I believe that minimizes the pure "thanks" that only God deserves. Only God is worthy of the thanks we give at this time of the year, and these thanks must be ongoing and serve as a daily reminder of God's grace and God's lovingkindness to us, His children.
These verses in Isaiah were echoed by Jesus in the synagogue in Luke 4: 16-19 and as Jesus read from the book of Isaiah He closed the book and in verse 21 said 21 And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” They had a very present Savior standing right in front of them and they knew Him not. Oh, may God open our eyes so we don't miss the Word of God who dwells through the Holy Spirit in those who are born-again. May the reminder given to us through God's Word of His great love for us draw us into a special moment of "thanksgiving" and cause us to speak from our hearts and say "THANKS!"
What an awesome God! What a wonderful Savior! What a great friend! Yes, the name is the only name by which we may be saved, JESUS!
Happy Thanksgiving
David Warren