Thanksgiving: All, Every, and Dirt

What does All, Every, and Dirt have to do with a devotional thought on thanksgiving? And I’ll tell you up front that Dirt is the winner! But giving thanks comes first. After all, Paul conveyed three commands in I Thessalonians 5:16-18 that seem almost impossible. The third one is: Always give thanks. Let’s go a little deeper.

Thanksgiving – A Challenge

My initial list of words began with ALL. I wrote a series called the Grace Factor. II Corinthians 9 was referenced in that series. But I intentionally didn’t comment on verse 8 in order to help focus our attention on thanksgiving. Here is what Paul wrote:

And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

That is a great place to launch a discussion on four things. Notice that Paul said, ALL…

• Grace – God’s blessings come from His great grace
• Things – That is the extent of our lives touched by His grace
• Times – That is how long God’s great grace endures
• Needs – That is the result of God’s great grace in our lives

That’s good stuff and it’s especially helpful if we are to always give thanks. Thanksgiving is vital for us. But All is not the best thing. The list gets even better!

Thanksgiving – A Psalm

Psalm 103 is often associated with thankfulness. It’s a great psalm and most folks know the opening verses. It shows us our Father is EVERY thing we need.

Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits

It is very encouraging to just read the verses and see the benefits that come to us through our Father. I challenge you to read the verses and match them to the list that follows. He is our:

• Pardoner (vs. 3a)
• Physician (vs. 3b)
• Purchaser/He redeemed us (vs. 4a)
• Pastor and Priest (vs. 4b)
• Provider (vs. 5)

How can anything possibly be better than these verses about All and Every?

Thanksgiving – Dirt

For years I encouraged myself with the opening verses of Psalm 103. And when we get to verse 12, we pause in gratitude and stop reading. That verse says:

So far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our sins from us.

Some years ago I kept reading and I am so glad I did! You might call this my confession on gratitude and thanksgiving. And this is as real as confessions come. Maybe you’ve reached the place in life where you are comfortable with what you cannot do. And maybe you’ve become weary of your own spiritual weaknesses. Those really are goals to attain! And the longer and further I journey into an international missions ministry the more I have to pray,

Lord, I can’t do this! Please do what only You can do.

Amazing things happen when we pray like that. The truth is, apart from Him we can do nothing. After all, it’s genuine insanity for the clay to say to the Potter, I can do this. And that brings me to a most wonderful verse in Psalm 103. God remembers it, and the more I remember it the better off I am:

For He knows our frame; He remembers He made us of dirt (vs. 14)

So from one dirtpile to another, He remembers. He loves you and wants to use you anyway. That’s a great reason for thanksgiving – always!

Soli Deo Gloria! 

Diving Deeper…

Let’s talk about that cover image. By now, you know you are not the flower in that image. You and I are the dirt and it isn’t very pretty. That’s why I chose that image. However, God does the miraculous and mysterious within us. And when that happens, He truly brings beautiful things from unattractive dirt. Bless the Lord, O my soul – He remembers that He made me of dirt!