Milestones of Thanksgiving
"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good.
His love endures forever."
(Psalm 136: 01)
Important dates in the annual calendar bring in feelings of celebrations and festivities. They help us retrieve and cherish precious memories. Sometimes these important dates make us look back and wonder how much we had come through in the past. We get the courage to look forward to the future and to sustain our vision and passion. But one thing that I never fail to realise is that these important annual dates are milestones of thanksgiving! These are points in our journey of life where we pause, take some time to reflect, realise how challenging the journey so far had been, and spend these moments thanking the Lord our God.
Thanksgiving is important for spiritual growth. Whenever possible, we should take advantage of even the least significant dates in the calendar to thank the Lord! Giving thanks to the Lord nourishes our spiritual body, it provides us with the lamp oil to keep the flame of vision and hope burning, and above anything, it reminds us of our whole dependency on God our Father. The verse we have taken for today's reflection teaches us two important elements of thanksgiving. Psalm 136: 01 reminds us that, when we thank the Lord, we as mortal human beings realise that our God is good, and His love endures forever.
Thanksgiving is a time that we thank the Lord, standing at an important milestone in the journey of our life, and this act of thanking the Lord, first of all, reminds us that our God is good! We seldom contemplate or meditate on the word 'good'. But if we could take some time to sit back, relax and to know the real meaning of the word, we will surely remember no one else but our God. Let me remind you of some of the synonyms for the word 'good' - upright, dependable, serious, right, full, estimable, honourable, expert, beneficial, proficient, secure, and the list goes on... It is not an easy word to digest in full as it is a word that describes God. It is important for us to realise how good the Lord is every time we thank Him, and the same helps us back to move further, depending on Him alone. Every time we thank the Lord, it is a reminder of how good He has been in our lives.
The next important element of thanksgiving is that it reminds us that the Lord's love "endures forever" (Psalm 136: 01). God of goodness loves us so abundantly and His love continues forever. His love will never fail, His understanding and compassion will never cease. This is love that is not just for a long time but forever. Thanking the Lord reminds us and assures us of this immortal and never-ending love. We are encouraged to live for this unlimited love and to carry the good news of this love to others. Only those who have experienced the mountains and valleys, the ups and downs, the heights and depths of this love can take this forward and make this world a place of love; never-ending love. As we thank the Lord, and as we realise that His love will endure forever, we will feel assured of our tomorrow. Our fears of the days to come vanishes as we know that we are loved by our Lord and He cares for us. And that is why Thanksgiving is important.
Today, as we receive this teaching from Psalm 136, lets us remember to take advantage of every little and big moments in life to thank the Lord. And especially, when we pass important milestones in the journey of life, let there be thanksgiving in our hearts, and let our thanksgiving lead us to these two wonderful realisations - our God is good, and His love endures forever. May the power and blessing of God the Father, the love and grace of Christ Jesus the Son, and the fellowship and guidance of the Holy Spirit help us to live every day, celebrating the goodness and never-ending love of our loving Lord. '
May God bless you.
Yours in Christ,
Forever by Chris Tomlin
Live Worship led by CCF Main Worship Team
