Regular Thanksgiving
Scripture — Colossians 1:3-4 (NRSV)
In our prayers for you we always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints.
Focus
The example of the Apostle Paul encourages us to give thanks to God, not just once in a while, but regularly. Even when we’re going through difficult times, we can pay attention to ways in which God is present and gracious. Consistent gratitude lifts our spirits and opens our hearts to receive yet more of God’s grace.
Devotion
When I was a senior in college, my roommate and I decided we would spend the Thanksgiving holiday in Montreal, Canada. Neither of us had been there before and we figured it would be a fitting adventure. We made the long drive from Boston to Montreal on Thanksgiving Day, getting into the city shortly before dinner time.
After settling into our pensione, we set off looking for a delicious turkey dinner. But we had no luck at all. We could not find any restaurant serving turkey and all the trimmings on Thanksgiving evening. Of course, it hadn’t dawned on us that Canada doesn’t celebrate Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November, but on the second Monday in October. We had missed Thanksgiving by six weeks! No turkey for us! We did find an inexpensive bistro serving tasty boeuf bourguignon, so the evening wasn’t a total loss. But it did seem most irregular to celebrate Thanksgiving by eating something other than turkey in a restaurant where everyone but us was speaking French. Live and learn!
I’m sharing this story of my youthful folly because it serves to remind us that thanksgiving isn’t something reserved only for the last Thursday in November. Yes, it’s appropriate to give thanks like the Canadians on the second Monday in October. . . and on all the other Mondays, Thursdays, and the rest of the days of the year.
The Apostle Paul exemplifies the kind of consistent gratitude to which we might aspire. Early in his letter to the Christians in Colossae, he writes, “In our prayers for you we always thank God” (1:3). As he considers their solid faith and strong love, Paul is grateful for God’s work among them. He makes sure to offer thanks as he prays, not just every now and then, but “always.”
The word “always” (pantote in Greek) reminds me of a similar verse in Ephesians: “[Be filled with the Spirit] . . . giving thanks to God the Father at all times [pantote] and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:20). When I was a young Christian, I worried about verses like this. How would it have been possible, I wondered, for Paul to pray “always” or “at all times”? Wasn’t this claim a considerable exaggeration? Moreover, if I took what Paul says literally, how in the world could I ever be expected to imitate his example? It seemed impossible to thank God always.
Now that I’m well into the third third of my life, I no longer worry about what Paul says about thanking God always. I have come to understand that he is not claiming to be verbally praying to God at every moment when he talks about always giving thanks. Rather, he is using the word “always” in a figurative sense. He means that he regularly thanks God for the Colossians, as he does for the other churches entrusted to his care.
The title of today’s Life for Leaders devotion is “Regular Thanksgiving.” I’m using this phrase, not to refer to how we Americans regularly celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday. I want to remind you and me that giving thanks is something we should do regularly . . . often, consistently, habitually. Paul’s example suggests that we should adopt a posture of gratitude in which we regularly attend to God’s gifts to us and regularly offer thanks to God, either in words or in the prayers of our hearts.
So, by all means, give thanks to God this week. But don’t limit your gratitude to a single day in November (or if you’re Canadian, in October). Rather, learn to thank the Lord every day, throughout the day. Pay attention to God’s good gifts to you and be sure to say “Thank you!”
Reflect
Would you say that you consistently give thanks to God? If so, why? If not, why not?
What keeps you from regularly giving thanks to God?
What helps you to give thanks to God consistently?
Act
The Apostle Paul regularly thanked God for people who had made a difference in his life. Set aside some time today (and every day?!) to imitate Paul’s example.
Pray
Gracious God, Paul’s example reminds me to thank you for the people who have made such a difference in my life. They are gifts from you to me and I receive them gratefully. Thank you also for your grace at work in their lives.
Specifically, Lord, I thank you today for . . . .
All praise be to you, O God, giver of such good gifts! Amen.
Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project’s online commentary. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: The First Thanksgiving?.
Mark D. Roberts
Senior Strategist
Dr. Mark D. Roberts is a Senior Strategist for Fuller’s Max De Pree Center for Leadership, where he focuses on the spiritual development and thriving of leaders. He is the principal writer of the daily devotional, Life for Leaders,...