Thanksgiving Day Reflection – Rev. Dr. Frank Balgeman #Jesus #God #love

Thanksgiving Day Reflection
“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his mercy endures forever.” “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all things.” “Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise.” “Do not be anxious about anything.”
But here’s the thing about today — it’s an appointment to feel thankful. And appointment emotions are strange. “Let’s meet Tuesday at 7:30 and cry together for half an hour.” Does that really work?
Many people don’t feel thankful today — not at this appointed time, not at any time. If you let yourself, you can fall into a state of mind where you’re not sure you’ve ever been genuinely thankful for anything. Not your life, not your successes, not the people who have come and gone.
For some, today is a day they actually contemplate: would it have been better if I had never been born?
Enter Jesus Christ into today’s appointment.
At the end of the day — or rather, at the end of you — you will be thankful for one thing: the forgiveness of sins and the certainty of the resurrection unto life everlasting.
Keep it simple. Don’t force thankfulness for this and that. Let the foundation of all your gratitude be the person and work of Jesus Christ. And if you genuinely can’t place anything else on top of that foundation today, then don’t.
Simply repeat that foundational blessing in thanksgiving, and it won’t be long before you’ve built the entire house upon it.
God’s richest blessings this Thanksgiving.