How to be thankful CONTINUOUSLY

It's a great day for me, folks. I love this time of year. The leaves are changing. There is a briskness to the air that stirs body and soul. I particularly love this time of year because my sons and family are home for a short visit, and with them come friends and a full house, busting at the seams...an appropriate setting for thanksgiving. I awoke this morning to the wonderful smell of Thanksgiving food preparation. Kris had risen early to get the bird in the oven and the aroma was enough to prompt great memories and gratitude. Giving thanks today is easy.

But what about when it's not so easy? The Bible is full of reminders that thanksgiving is to be a part of my life experience...continuously. We read in 1Thes. "Rejoice in the Lord ALWAYS. In EVERYTHING give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus..." Wow. Always. In everything. The writer of Hebrews says that (chapter 13) we are to bring the sacrifice of praise to God continuously and defines it as the "fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name."

So how can it be done?

I'll make two suggestions. Gratitude is a natural overflow from a heart established in grace. First, we will never be grateful for things we have earned or deserve, so we have to remind ourselves that we are loved in spite of our failings. That's what makes grace grace and not wages. I need a constant reminder that I need him. I can't do it on my own and whenever I've slipped into a works-gospel (believing that God will find me a bit more acceptable if I behave properly), I need to face the truth that walking in self-sufficiency will only bring me closer to myself and closes off the flow of God's grace.

Secondly, I need continuous grace awareness. Everything. EVERYTHING I receive is an act of God's grace. Every breath I take is evidence of grace. What I deserve for sin is hell. What I've been given because of the gospel of grace is right-standing with God. When I walk in continuous grace awareness, the natural result is overflow in gratitude (in addition to grace flowing out of my life to those around me).

The language the Bible uses to describe this amazing switch (my sin for Christ's righteousness) is particularly interesting and not something I'll pretend to understand. In Corinthians it says that Christ "became sin." Not died for sin. Not paid for sin. Became sin. And then it says that the result is that I will become the righteousness of Christ. Not have it, obtain it or that God will apply Christ's righteousness on my ledger to make up for my sin. It says that I will actually become the righteousness of Christ. That, I don't fully understand. Fortunately, getting it isn't necessary to promote thankfulness.

When you find yourself slipping into the complacency of ingratitude, remind yourself of the truth of the Gospel. Realize that God's grace wasn't applied once to your life at salvation. It is the ongoing, sustaining, sanctifying force that will hold us throughout life. God's grace determines his posture towards us as his children and it touches my life every moment.

This means that God's grace is touching your life as a believer when times are good, and when times are hard. Yes, God's grace is what prevents tragedy such as a car accident. But it is also God's grace when he allows tragedy to touch our lives. Sometimes grace wears a cloak of suffering. Car accidents. Cancer. The loss of love. The death of a friend. For the believer, all are evidences of grace. It is a recognition that God's grace is a constant, that it governs every action of God towards us, that allows us to react with a will to thank him in all circumstances.

Awareness of that grace is key to a life of thanksgiving. Today and year-round!