A reason to be thankful

Sadly, here in Japan, people don’t celebrate Thanksgiving.

But with this being the fourth Thursday of November (in Japan, anyway), I thought it would be good to remember the things we ought to be thankful for, especially in a year where it seems that there has been precious little to be thankful for.

The Psalmist wrote,

Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him and bless his name. (Psalm 100:4)

Why? What reason does he give?

For the Lord is good, and his faithful love endures forever;
his faithfulness, through all generations. (5)

“The Lord is good.”

It’s easy to say that in good times. But how about in the bad times?

Why can we say the Lord is good? Ultimately, we look to the cross. For it was there that God proved his faithful love to us.

While we were still sinners, when we had no inkling of even drawing near to him, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

From Adam who sinned in the garden, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, with all their failings, to the people of Israel who repeatedly failed to trust God, to all the Christians throughout the centuries, God has proved his faithfulness again and again.

He did so to a people who have not always served him with gladness and who have not always acknowledged him as God in their lives.

And yet, though we have at times been faithless, he has always been faithful. (2 Timothy 2:13)

And he will continue to be.

Now that’s a reason to be thankful.