The central consolation that Christians have should be found in the fact that God is God. Because we have been accepted in Christ, and our sins have been forgiven, and the righteousness of Jesus Christ has been imputed to us, it becomes possible for us to come to the Father. No man comes to the Father except through Christ. And through Christ we discover that the Father is God and, more strikingly, that God is a Father.
So God is a Father, and a father is one who provides and protects. And because He protects us, and because He provides for us, we are absolutely secure.
“In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”
1 Thessalonians 5:18 (KJV)
“Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Ephesians 5:20 (KJV)
In everything give thanks, and for everything give thanks. How is this even possible? What are the preconditions for being able to do this? The absolute foundation for a life of complete gratitude is a deep confidence in the absolute and exhaustive sovereignty of God. But remember, it is the absolute sovereignty of a Father. The font of all goodness is fatherly.
A proper celebration of all this consists therefore of a series of tokens, all of which need to be connected by faith to this ultimate reality. Those tokens include pumpkin pie, and family, and singing “We Thank Thee,, Our Father,” and pecan pie, and turkey, and gravy, and hearts full of gratitude. God—being a Father—delights in the fact that we use things like this to express our gratitude. It is fitting and right.
“He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: That he may bring forth food out of the earth; And wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man’s heart.”
Psalm 104:14–15 (KJV)
God does not despise table fellowship before Him that expresses gratitude to Him. Rather, He exults in it. He rejoices over it with singing. He takes far more pleasure in it than we are able to do.
So then, as you gather with people you love, and with those who love you, and as you eat certain common traditional dishes that are being consumed by millions of others all on the same day, thank the God who orchestrates all things, including this, for His own glory. This does not ignore the darkness outside, but rather is our answer to it. Light is the answer to darkness.
Have a truly blessed Thanksgiving.