Thanksgiving - The No-Pressure, Equal-Opportunity Holiday!

I LOVE Thanksgiving!  Love the spiritual history, the rich food, the cozy decorations.  Thanksgiving feels like the no-pressure, equal-opportunity holiday.  Just gather, give thanks, and eat.  And eat.  Repeat!  What I don't love are the tips I read this time of year:  "7 Steps Toward a More Thankful Heart" or "How to Put More Thanks in Your Giving!"  I rebel against the triteness.  And yet, I do want God to cultivate in me a grateful heart; I want my focus to be on him.

So, how can I live as a thankful person?  How can I honor the Giver of every good and perfect gift?  It is not by trying harder to be more grateful.  I do not have to tell myself, "Grit your teeth and be thankful!"  Getting my eyes off myself is the start.  When I dwell on me and my circumstances, I am obviously not dwelling on God!  But when I think on God - who he is, what he has done for me through the person of Jesus Christ, or what he promises to do -  now I'm getting my eyes onto Christ!  After all, the Lord is my portion forever (appropriate for Turkey Day, right!?).  When I am dwelling on Jesus and believing truth as given through the Bible, I have what I need; my heart cannot help but flow with gratitude.  

Some Novembers are replete with suffering; others seem bountiful in blessing.
But one thing will never change- whether it's the 4th Thursday in November or any other day of the year:  "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever" (Hebrews 13:8).  And he's come for me!  He loves me.  He's covered me with his own righteousness.  This Thanksgiving, thinking on these things - telling them to our children -  is the perfect way to "taste and see that the Lord is good" (Psalm 34:8).