As we approach the holiday season, what are you doing to ensure you live a life of thankfulness? Being thankful is not just a word we say or express at a certain time of year. If we are truly thankful, it will be a lifestyle. With this truth of always being thankful, what is the pathway to it?
Our first step is to acknowledge who God is. He is the Creator of everything. In Genesis 1:1, we are taught “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” Each day, He added to His creation for six days. He made everything perfect and ready for the pinnacle of His creation. We are the reason He made a perfect world. He was making a place for us. A place where we could enjoy His presence and the beauty of the earth. We are the only created beings that He created in His image. We are made unlike any other creature. We have an eternal soul that will live forever either in Heaven, which is prepared for us, or in Hell for those who reject Him. We are His workmanship and therefore He owns us.
Isaiah 64:8 “But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.”
I am thankful that this vessel of clay, which belongs to God, is not discarded or forgotten just because it has imperfections. When the potter is molding clay and it does not turn out as intended, he throws it back onto the wheel and remakes it into a usable vessel. When a potter is remaking the clay, he throws it hard onto the wheel. He continues to shape it, knock off any spurs, and fill in the cracks. This is what God must do with us when we are not living in His perfect will. It takes time for the potter to make the perfect usable vessel.
Jeremiah 18:6 “O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.”
Our pathway will not be without pain, suffering, and roadblocks. Why, because we are sinful people. When we are forgiven for our sins, the old nature hangs around. Little by little, we are to grow to be more like Jesus. He is our pattern for a life that pleases the Father. While on this earth, Jesus suffered greatly. He suffered rejection, ridicule, and death on the cross. His life was not easy, because He was still 100% God and 100% man. In John 1:1, the Word is another name for Jesus. In John 1:14, this Word was made flesh. He chose to suffer everything that we will ever suffer, and yet, He did not yield to sin. He knows exactly how we feel in every situation we face.
John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
Hebrews 1:3 “Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.”
John 1:14 “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”
God is eternal, He is sovereign, loving, and good in every way. He is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. He is holy, merciful, and righteous, and while He is perfect in every way, He wants a relationship with us. We are completely opposite of Jesus because we still retain our sin nature. When we choose to accept Him as our Savior, He forgives us and wipes the slate clean. Then, when we die, we spend eternity with Him.
His mercy endures forever, and His truth never changes. He is just, and while in my own merit, justice would send me to Hell forever., He made a way for me to be forgiven and be His child. That is why it is vital for my eternity to depend on Jesus to robe me with His righteousness. When I repent and surrender to Him as my Lord and Savior. He is not just my fire escape, He is my Lord, which means Master.
I am so thankful for all the Biblical truths that are granted to me because I am created in His image. While I am a sinner, He wanted a relationship with me; therefore, He gave His Son to pay the price for my sins. This is the only way I can spend eternity in Heaven. I am, and will be eternally thankful for all that the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ affords me. Without God and the truths of who He is, I have no hope after this life.
When you celebrate Thanksgiving in a few weeks, do not forget that for the believer, it should be Thanksgiving every day! If you have not accepted Him and what He has done for you today is the day that you can begin your eternal Thanksgiving.
