Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Pastor John Writes:
In 1978, Henry Smith wrote a song entitled, “Give Thanks With a Grateful Heart” which reminds us:
“Give thanks with a grateful heart;
Give thanks to the Holy One.
Give thanks because He’s given
Jesus Christ, His Son.
And now let the weak say, ‘I am strong!’
Let the poor say, ‘I am rich
Because of what the Lord has done for us.’
Give thanks!”
Out of 300 songs he wrote, this is the only one which was published.
Smith wrote the song during a time of having trouble finding work after graduating from college, and while suffering from a degenerative eye condition which would later leave him legally blind. Yet, one Sunday he heard the pastor at his church in Williamsburg, VA, share the words of 2 Corinthians 8:9: “Our Lord Jesus Christ, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.”
Smith found hope and inspiration from these words and proceeded to write his song of thanksgiving and trust.
Thanksgiving is a time when we can choose to look around us and find that which is good, and thank God for it. We can find that which is caring and thank God and the person who is doing it, and we can focus on that which is noble and true and beautiful and express our praise for it.
Thanksgiving — this month and every single day — is a time we can choose to look at these things, where we can choose to find God speaking to us through what God has given us, and a time when, having looked and found, we decide to truly thank God for what God has given us, and to truly trust God for what God will do.
Thanks be to God, at all times, now and always.
In Christ,
Pastor John
