Thanksgiving.  What is the first thing that comes to mind when you read or hear that word?  Is it a day, a family meal, or perhaps a specific menu of foods?  Is it an attitude that comes and goes based on how you feel?  Or is it a way of life which flows from you regardless of your circumstances?  These devotions I will be sharing this month were originally written throughout November 2019 and then edited/updated during the summer of 2020 for a 31 day devotional journal, “The Heart of Thanksgiving:  Living a Life of Thankfulness”.  I will be re-sharing them here this month to encourage each of us to pursue a greater spirit of thankfulness in all we do.

Here is day twenty-eight with an important reminder that living with a heart of thanksgiving should cause us to be thankful for a God who gives in abundance.

Day Twenty-Eight:
Thankful For God’s Abundance

“How priceless is your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings.  They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights.  For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.” 
Psalm 36:7-9 (NIV)

Today I am thankful for a God who provides abundantly more than I can think or ask.  Do I always have what I want?  No.  Do I always have what I think I need?  No.  Sometimes I simply don’t ask.  Sometimes I ask and the answer requires some effort on my part that I’m not willing to give.  Sometimes I ask selfishly and my request would not be a true benefit to myself or anyone else if granted.  Sometimes I’m impatient and assume the good that I’m asking for isn’t coming when it just isn’t time yet.  When I think of God providing abundantly, I think of the promised land that was “flowing with milk and honey”.  When confirmed by Joshua and Caleb that this was in fact true, the people resisted and rebelled because of the other reports that detailed how much work and difficulty appeared to be involved in claiming God’s promise.  God’s promise of abundance doesn’t always look like we expect it to and the promise is really about God providing Himself so that the abundant life He gives is an eternal life.

Spending a month writing a post each day about giving thanks is a helpful exercise in seeing the abundance given by God.  When doing that, I realize my abundance isn’t accurately measured by my bank account or my house or my truck or by any other possession I have but rather my abundance is measured by the goodness of God He has placed in my life.  I am thankful for the things God has given me.  Even as I have a turkey on the smoker this morning, I am thankful for the feast God provides daily through His Word.  With coffee cup in hand, I am thankful for the living water that God provides as I surrender my life to Jesus.  After a day of brutal winds, I am thankful for the gentle breeze of the Holy Spirit providing comfort and direction to my soul.

I am thankful that God is accessible to me, and to you, no matter how the world sees us.  I am thankful that God is a refuge to all who would come to Him.  I am thankful that God’s love never fails.  I am thankful for the people God uses to comfort and encourage me.  I am even thankful for the people God uses to challenge and convict me when I allow my life to drift off track.

I pray that you and I would know an abundance that isn’t measured by material possessions.  I pray that we would count our blessings each day as a reminder of what God is doing in and through us.  I pray that we would see even our material abundance as a gift from God and use it to bring glory to His name.

In prayer,

Tom