But First… Thanksgiving!
It’s Thanksgiving week, and the outpouring of gratitude online, at work, and around our dinner tables is at its annual peak. This time of year is always a joy. Our feeds fill with reflections on blessings, answered prayers, restored relationships, new opportunities, and unexpected moments of grace. What I love most is how genuine these Thanksgiving messages tend to be.
We see family mentioned more than anything else.
We see gratitude for valleys God has carried us through.
We see praise for mountaintop moments we worked hard for, or never saw coming.
As I’m writing this, I’m in the car on Highway 70 heading west to St. Louis with my family. Kids asleep in the back seat. My wife graciously driving so I can type and feel somewhat productive. And somewhere between exits, a thought hit me:
What would we look like as Christians if we were consistently—and publicly—grateful for the opportunities each new day brings?
Staring out the window, I thought about the letters of Paul. He actually did this. It’s remarkable how often he begins his letters not with instruction, correction, or encouragement—but with thanksgiving. Nearly every letter opens with gratitude before anything else.
Check this out:
Romans 1:8 – “I thank my God…”
1 Corinthians 1:4 – “I thank my God…”
Ephesians 1:16 – “…do not cease giving thanks…”
Philippians 1:3 – “I thank my God…”
Colossians 1:3 – “We always thank God…”
1 Thessalonians 1:2 – “We give thanks to God always…”
2 Thessalonians 1:3 – “We ought always to give thanks…”
2 Timothy 1:3 – “I thank God…”
Philemon 4 – “I thank my God…”
This man was thankful. Not occasionally. Not when things went well. Not once a year in November. He began with thanks. Before teaching. Before correcting. Before encouraging. Before anything else.
Nearly all of these thanksgiving statements appear right in chapter one of the letters we now read in the New Testament.
When I think about my own posture of thanksgiving, I have to be honest… it doesn’t usually come first.
I tend to lean on obedience, sacrifice, or my feeble attempts at humility long before I arrive at gratitude.
But I’m realizing something:
I need to start living from a place of thanksgiving.
A deep gratitude for the day ahead.
A real appreciation for whatever the Holy Spirit places in my path.
A genuine smile for the air I breathe.
A desire to shine the light of Christ wherever I go.
A walk inspired by the reality that my days are numbered—and each one produces eternal value.
This Thanksgiving season, let’s pay attention.
Why are we thankful?
To whom are we thankful?
And do we really need a holiday to remind us?
What would it look like to begin each day the way Paul began his letters,
with gratitude first.
As our cups overflow with joy and thanksgiving, may we pour into others the living water and spiritual nourishment that only Jesus provides.
I hope you all enjoy these moments with family and friends this week.
Grateful.
-Mark
