By Jonathan Wright
For any Thanksgiving, regardless of what period of life we’re currently in, when it comes right down to it we all have to admit—we didn’t get here by ourselves.
There’s just no way around it.
Regardless of your lot in life, you know instinctively that a much greater power than you yourself has brought about whatever good things you now enjoy in your life. Common sense, common logic, common knowledge—whatever you want to call it—you simply can’t deny it without having to provide some hefty evidence against it.
And none of that “hefty evidence” holds water at the end of the day.
When you sit down to your Thanksgiving dinner this coming Thursday, if your family and friends traditionally take turns sharing what they’re thankful for, it’s abundantly obvious that listing them all would take hours, if not days. It’s true—we really, really have a lot to be thankful for.
If you know me very well, you know that one of my big gripes about the public recognition of Thanksgiving is that we way too easily utter that time-honored phrase “I’m thankful for…” without ever once mentioning whom we ultimately express that thanks to. Thanksgiving is a time specifically designated for giving thanks not to the mail carrier, not to our kids’ teachers, not to our law enforcement officers, not to our military, not to our nurses, not to our doctors—but to none other than God himself, the Creator of it all.
Admit it—without Him we don’t even have as much as our next heartbeat.
It’s only because of Him that we’re able to do anything at all.
We all have dreams for what we want to accomplish before we draw our final breaths down here. Many of us will be able to realize some of those dreams and will perhaps accept a little praise from others for what “we” have accomplished.
But may we always remember the true, ultimate source of anything good we’re able to accomplish. It’s to Him and Him alone we should direct our thanks this and every Thanksgiving.
That’s what it’s all about anyway.
