Thank God for God – Theology Essay
As I was walking down the street the other day, I saw a figure coming toward me dressed in clothes reminiscent of those worn by the Pilgrims.“Who are you?” I asked, thinking this was a leftover from Halloween, perhaps just now finding his way home.
“I am Thanksgiving,” he replied, tipping his hat and allowing a bedraggled turkey feather to flutter to the ground. “What are you doing here?” I inquired. “I’m trying to let people know that I still exist,” he said. “They seem to have forgotten about me over the last several years.”
Yes, it used to be that Santa Claus arrived on the day after Thanksgiving. Storeowners then began to have “Santa Claus” arrive a week or two before Thanksgiving. Now many stores have Christmas decorations and merchandise out right after Halloween. Thanksgiving seems to be lost in the shuffle.
But there are still those who remember to give thanks to God for His blessings and goodness to America. I pray that many more Americans will remember God and celebrate Thanksgiving in other ways than by stuffing themselves with everything they can eat and watching eight solid hours of football. Don’t get me wrong, I like food and football, but let’s remember that the first pilgrim Thanksgiving was set aside to celebrate and give thanks to God. Our forefathers proclaimed Thanksgiving a national holiday to give thanks to God. What are you thanking God for on Thanksgiving?
My heart was moved during the baseball playoffs this year when during the seventh inning stretch of each game someone was designated to sing, “God bless America!” It was so moving. May our prayer be “God, thank You for blessing America. May you continue to shed your grace on America. And make us a blessing to the world.”
“We have a lot to thanks God for. But as I was pondering the theme of Thanksgiving, I realized that most of all, I thank God for God! I thank God for being who He is. The Greeks and Romans had their mythological gods. They were mostly viewed as demanding, vengeful, austere, fickle, and aloof. Many ancient people sculpted their own gods out of silver, gold stone or wood. They worshipped them and tried to appease them, but had no communication or intimate relationship with them. The psalmist declared, “Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. They have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have they but they see not; they have ears but they hear not; noses have they, but they smell not; they have hands, but the handle not; feet have they, but they walk not; neither speak they through their throat. They that make them are like unto them; so is everyone that trusteth in them.” (Psalm 115:4-8)
I thank God for God! The God that sees all, that hears and answers prayer, that smells the sweet fragrance of praise and worship, that leads His children by the hand, and allowed His hands and feet to be nailed to the cross for the sins of the world, that walked in the garden of Eden with Adam and Eve, and walks with his children through the valley of the shadow of death, and that speaks to us through His Son, His Living Word, and the voice of the Holy Spirit.
I thank God for being God. The God who “heals the broken hearted, binding up their wounds. He counts the stars and calls them all by name. How great is our Lord! His power is absolute! His understanding is beyond comprehension! The Lord supports the humble, but He brings the wicked down into the dust. Sing out your thanks to the Lord, sing praises to our God, accompanied by harps…” (See Psalm 147, NLT)
Thank God for being God! He is not a god who is unholy, perverted, capricious, distant, or proud. The true and living God has revealed Himself through His Word. You can know and experience Him personally through His Son, Jesus Christ, who took upon Himself human flesh to show us the Father, and to become a sacrificial Redeemer by His death on the cross.
Thank God for being a God of love! “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
Thank God that this awesome God desires an intimate fellowship with you and wants you to live with Him forever! “Behold, I stand at the door and knock, if any man hears my voice, and opens unto me, I will come into him and sup with him and he with me.” (Revelation 3:20). With thanksgiving, invite the Savior into your heart today. And this Thanksgiving, thank God for being God!
“Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might, be unto our God forever and ever. Amen.” (Revelation 7:12).