Covenant TGIF Message from Ron

In some ways, Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays of the year.  We have a number of holidays each year that provide a 3-day weekend, but only Thanksgiving provides a consistent 4-day weekend every year.  It seems that everyone takes these 4 days off every year, and most people choose to just relax with family and friends, eat way too much, and watch a lot of football.  The one exception to this rule is the employees at all the big box stores that are working to serve the Americans who also love to celebrate Black Friday, which have you noticed now starts earlier and runs a little longer every year!

It is a time every year where we can take a few days to appreciate and celebrate all that we have been given in our lives: 

• We should be thankful for our children, grandchildren and, for a very special few grandparents, even great-grandchildren.  We should be thankful for the life our parents and grandparents have given us, for our entire family and our extended in-law family. 
• We should be thankful for our homes, for our jobs (for those still working!), and for the wonderful friendships we have nurtured and maintained throughout our lives (our chosen family!).
• We should be thankful for our health, even if we are at the stage of life where our health may now be lagging a bit.
• We should be thankful for our church family, who are so special to us in their friendship and service to God and His Kingdom.
• We should be thankful for the special places God has given us to visit, whether it be the beach, mountains, ski country, big cities, foreign countries, or wherever our heart has taken us during our life.
• We should be thankful for all the memories that are still stored in our brains for all of our life experiences, both the positive and happy ones as well as the not so positive ones.
• We should be thankful for all the “coincidences” we have experienced during our life that many would call “GodWinks”!

The word Psalms is translated “Praises” in the Hebrew text, and the book of Psalms is often translated as “The Book of Praises”.  The collected Psalms represent the largest book in the Bible and the most frequently quoted Old Testament book in the New Testament.  Psalm 100 is a well-known Psalm, titled A Psalm of Thanksgiving.  It is a short but powerful Psalm.

Psalm 100:1-5 – Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth.  ² Serve the Lord with jubilation; come before Him with rejoicing.  ³ Know that the Lord Himself is God; it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture.  ⁴ Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courtyards with praise.  Give thanks to Him, bless His name.  ⁵ For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting and His faithfulness is to all generations.

As we spend next Thursday and the long weekend being so grateful for all that we have in our lives, we need to remember this Psalm.  We need to remember the reason for all our blessings and give all the praise and glory to God for our lives.  We need to give thanks to God for the grace and mercy He has shown to all of us throughout our lives …. and will continue to show through all of eternity.  May we not only thank God for all these things for the next week, but throughout the next year …. and for the rest of our lives! 

Cindy and I will be in DC for the next two weeks celebrating Thanksgiving with our children and grandchildren.  I will not be sending any TGIF messages while gone due to the difficulty I have experienced sending them when not at home.  Cindy and I wish you and your loved ones a most blessed and peaceful Thanksgiving celebration!