Thanksgiving Blessings
We’re coming off another Thanksgiving holiday! It’s this time each year that we take to gather with friends and family around tables, eat turkey, watch football, and maybe take a moment or two to go around and share what you’re thankful for. It’s a great time to count your blessings!
I don’t know about you, but I really do believe we have so much to be thankful for.
I think this is why it’s so important that we take time to really count our blessings. Not just the physical and material blessings we have and we enjoy. But the kind of blessings we can count on.
Because we live in a world where material blessings will not last. They will fail us.
The truth is, cars break down. Houses fall into disrepair. Clothes become faded and torn. Money doesn’t last. Things break. Even our health will fail us.
Are these things blessings? Sure they are. But they aren’t the kind of blessings we can always count on.
Blessings you can count on
The good news is that our faith isn’t built on physical blessings. The foundation of the church isn’t built on material things.
You see this in the way Paul started the letter he wrote to his friends in the church in the ancient city of Ephesus.
Paul writes…
All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. – Ephesians 1.3
When Paul begins this letter, he doesn’t begin by saying praise God for the food we have to eat, for the houses we have to live in, for the cars we have to drive. He doesn’t thank God for the grand opening of a new church building or anything else money can buy.
He begins his letter with gratitude for “every spiritual blessing!” And then throughout the next 11 verses, he names many of these spiritual blessings.
17 Spiritual Blessings
By my count, Paul names 17 different spiritual blessings we enjoy in Christ!
- We are Loved
- We are Chosen
- We are Holy
- We are Without Fault in His Eyes
- We are Adopted
- We are Recipients of God’s Glorious Grace
- We are Free
- We are Forgiven
- We are Showered with Kindness
- We are Showered with Wisdom
- We are Showered with Understanding
- We are united with Christ
- We have Received an Inheritance from God
- We are Saved
- We are Identified as His own
- We have Been given the Holy Spirit
- We are His own people, the people of God!
These are many of the amazing blessings we have in Christ according to Ephesians 1.3-14!
And here’s the thing…
You can’t take these away.
You can take away money.
You can destroy my possessions.
You can’t take away the Holy Spirit of God.
You can’t take away my position as a son or daughter of God!
Why Gratitude Matters
In your Bible Ephesians 1.3-14 is probably broken up into 8-15 different sentences, depending on your translation. But in the original language, this is only ONE SENTENCE!
And I don’t know if you noticed this, but this incredibly long sentence begins and ends the same way.
This sentence begins with… “All praise to God…” and then ends with… “He did this so we would praise and glorify Him!”
It begins and ends with worship!
So let me ask you,
How’s your worship?
If your worship isn’t where you want it to be it may be because you’re counting the wrong blessings.
If you’re complaining about not having enough physical blessings you won’t be able to worship the One who is the Giver of every good and perfect gift.
Here’s what Paul knew that is true about you…
You worship what you value most.
Your worship reveals the blessings you count most.
Gratitude begets worship
In the gospel of Luke we have this story about what happened one day when Jesus was outside of Jerusalem. (Luke 17.11-19)
Jesus heard 10 men in the distance crying out for him to heal them. They had leprosy. Jesus heard them. He saw them. And He healed them. They all ran off to show themselves to the priest so they could return to their families. All but one.
One man, as soon as he saw that he had been healed, turned and ran to Jesus shouting, “Praise God.”
“He fell to the ground at Jesus’ feet, thanking him for what he had done.” – Luke 17.16
He had cried out for healing from a distance. Now he worshiped at Jesus’ feet.
Here’s the truth that this man experienced at the feet of Jesus.
Gratitude gives birth to worship in our lives. And our worship reveals to us and to the world around us what it is that we’re most grateful for!
What about you?
What do you need to give thanks for today?
What are the spiritual blessings that you can count and you can count on?
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