Practical Gratitude

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:4-9 ESV).

The apostle helps us with the practical aspect of giving thanks. He often reminds us of being grateful for the past and trusting God for the future. I suppose it’s another means of using thanksgiving to learn to delegate, and not attempt to do all the work itself. Thanksgiving has an indispensable ally named “faith.” These two things must strike the balance if gratitude is to be appropriately applied and used in our lives. Piper says, “Gratitude exults in the past benefits of God and says to faith, ‘Embrace more of these benefits for the future, so that my happy work of looking back on God’s deliverance may continue.’ And faith is eager to respond, ‘Thank you, Thanksgiving, for sending me your impulses of delight in what God has done. I’ll happily transpose those into faith and keep on trusting him. I’ll keep believing in Jesus for more grace.’” There is always more grace to come for the child of God. Earlier in the Ephesian letter the apostle calls grace “immeasurable” (cf. Ephesians 1:19). One of the exercises I have employed to help me with my personal thanksgiving is an intentional focus on the horizon. While I cannot go into space as some have, I can gain an incredible perspective of how immense God is by simply looking across the expanse of creation. It is a little easier in our part of Texas since we don’t have lots of trees that might block such a view; however, there isn’t a place on this earth, or beyond, that we cannot get a sense of the immeasurable characteristic of God’s grace from just looking to our surroundings. My prayer is that God will fill us to overflowing with thanksgiving for his amazing graces this year. Remember, the greatest of these graces is the gift of himself in the person of his Son. I also pray that thanksgiving will give each of us the strength to rise to great hope that the God who has so richly provided for us to date, will most certainly give us everything we need for our everlasting good and increase for all eternity in showing us “the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:7). The grace we’ve seen so far is only a taste of the grace that is to come. Have your thanksgiving ready. There will be much more to enjoy.