"In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."

"By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name." (Hebrews 13:15)

"He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again." (2 Corinthians 5:15)

All across America this week people will gather to celebrate a holiday of giving thanks to God for the blessings He has given us. Last month the residents of Canada celebrated the same.

A friend of mine dislikes such holidays - days that are set aside for doing what we should be doing every day of the year. It's true that we sometimes assuage our guilt of neglecting what we should be doing consistently all year, by making a big deal of such holidays. The Bible tells us to give thanks in everything - that means we need to be continually giving thanks, not just when Thanksgiving rolls around to remind us to count our blessings.

At Thanksgiving we often eke out a bit of gratitude, thinking that for one day we can find a few things to be thankful for, even though in our hearts we are angry at God for not giving us what we really want. Many singles are guilty of this. I've been guilty of this. We feel this way when we've fallen into the trap of living for ourselves. We then become miserable because we have no purpose. We look at what we don't have and blame our lack of purpose on the deficiencies in our lives, and worse yet, become angry at God for them.

But God calls us to so much more for our lives.

He died for us. He died for us so that we don't have to face a godless eternity. But He also died for us so that we don't have to live an empty life of being angry and bitter because we're focused on ourselves, but rather of living it meaningfully for Him.

This Thanksgiving, let's make it more than an empty token of giving thanks. Let's purpose in our hearts to live our lives for Him, taking our focus off of what we don't have, and putting it on what we can do for Him. In return He'll give us deeper meaning and purpose in our lives. And with an increased purpose for living, we'll also become more grateful for all that He has done for us.

© 2009 Fern Horst

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO TO REPRINT this devotional on the internet, all that we require is that you reprint it in its entirety, include the author's name, the copyright information, and a link to www.singleness.org.

FOR HARD COPY REPRINTS of more than 50 copies, please write to contact us for permission.

Thanks!

Visit the Devotional Archives

We appreciate your feedback, which is an inspiration, encouragement, and blessing to us! Please use our Contact Us page to send us your response. Thanks!