Ah, November! The air is crisp. The leaves, in most places, turn beautiful colors for a short time. And, towards the end of the month, people’s thoughts turn to being thankful for God’s blessings.
November is also the one month of the year when everyone in my immediate family except me celebrates another revolution around the sun. Even my still fairly new to the family son-in-law’s birthday is in November! Fortunately a prospective future candidate for a similar spot in my immediate family is a non-November birthday, so I do not have to be the only one.
Truthfully, though, I don’t mind so much having so many birthdays in November. Yes, it can get expensive with gifts. Perhaps if it were any other month, the expense might be all I thought about as the month progressed.
Since it is November, though, I have reminders all month to be thankful. I do not have to wait until the fourth Thursday of November to be thankful. I have reminders on the 7th, 9th, 16th, and now the 14th of November.
Thankfulness, though, should not be a one day a year expression for anyone.
- Colossians 2:7 tells us that our lives should be “overflowing with thankfulness” (NIV).
- Colossians 3:17 tells us that in everything we do, we should give thanks to God.
- Colossians 4:2 tells us, “Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving” (ESV).
There are plenty of other verses we could look at that encourage us to make thanksgiving a large part of our lives . . . thanksgiving should be a way of life for us.
You do not have to wait until November 23 this year to show how thankful you are to God for His many blessings. You do not have to wait until November 23 to show how thankful you are to your family, friends, neighbors, or anyone else.
With all the blessings we enjoy from God, why would we even want to limit our thanksgiving to one day or one week or one month a year? Be thankful EVERYDAY!