What do you think of when someone says November? I think of pumpkin pies, colorful leaves, sweatshirts, football, and a fire in the fireplace, family, turkey, the need to start Christmas shopping and most of all Thanksgiving. I realize Thanksgiving is more than three weeks away; however, what would it be like if we intentionally began giving thanks at the beginning of November and did it the whole month?
I want to challenge you to pause each day for the month of November and thank God for five things He has blessed you with without repeating anything from the previous days. Will you take the challenge? You will be amazed how it will impact your life. A thankful heart is one overflowing with joy.
A friend of mine gave me a plaque that says “As the praises go up, the blessings flow down.” This creates a cycle: thanks, blessings, more thanks, more blessings. I don’t know about you, but that is one cycle I’d sign up for personally.
You cannot read any book of the Bible without someone thanking God for something. It is part of the culture of God to say thank you. In the Old Testament you read over and over about the Israelites taking time to build altars to thank God for the great things He had done for them. They served as reminders to the people of God of the faithfulness of God. They understood the significance of giving thanks.
1 Chronicles 16:34 says “Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His love endures forever.” We give thanks to God for His goodness. Psalm 105:1 says “Give thanks to the LORD, call on His name; make known among the nations what He has done.” As we thank the Lord we are giving testimony to our God and drawing others closer to Him. When we pause to thank God for what He has done for us, we take our eyes off of ourselves and shift them to Him. We begin to recognize how great our God is and how amazing His works are in our lives [Deuteronomy 3:24].
So, today, I am thankful for my salvation. I am thankful for a God who is real. I am thankful for a God who is approachable. I am thankful for a God who desires to have intimacy with me. I am thankful for a God who speaks to me. What are you thankful for today?