It’s the 4th Thursday in November, Thanksgiving Day in the U.S.A., a day set aside as a national holiday to give thanks for our many blessings.
For the Christian, of course, every day is a good day to thank God for all He is and all He has done. Amen?
Psalm 136 provides a wonderful expression of gratitude to God:
“Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good.
His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of Gods.
His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the Lord of Lords.
His love endures forever.”
Psalm 136:1-3
The psalmist then recounts many of the great works of God: creation, the Exodus, the parting of the Red Sea, the military victories of the Israelites as they journeyed to Canaan, the conquest of the Promised Land.
I love this psalm. The goodness and power of God are on display. His mighty acts in history are remembered, and each verse ends with one of the most comforting statements in all of Scripture: “His love endures forever.”
I especially like verse 25. We are to give thanks “to the one who gives food to every creature.”
For me, food has become a special way to remember the goodness of God.
In 1983 I turned my back on God and decided that I wanted nothing to do with Him, His Word, or His people. I was determined to be the master of my fate and the captain of my soul.
For the next 20 years I lived as if God didn’t exist. For all practical purposes, I became an atheist. The only god I believed in was myself.
I stopped reading the Bible and attending church services. And I stopped praying.
For 20 years, I never thanked God for anything, including food.
Let’s run the numbers on that, shall we? Let’s quantify my life of rebellion.
3 meals a day X 365 days = 1,095 meals each year. 1,095 meals X 20 years = 21,900 meals.
Over a 20-year period, I ate 21,900 meals and never gave thanks to God for any of them.
And during that time, what did God do, every day, 3 times a day, without fail?
Give me more food.
Incredible, isn’t it? This is the goodness of God on display, is it not? This is living proof of Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:45, “He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”
This is what theologians call “common grace,” God’s undeserved favor toward those who could care less about Him.
Oh, may I never again take God’s gift of food for granted! Instead, may this be my prayer:
“The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time. You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.” (Psalm 145:15-16)
No matter what country you live in, may we stop and give thanks to God today for His gracious gift of food.
Not only has God provided the food needed to sustain physical life, but He has also provided the food needed for spiritual life. “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Deuteronomy 8:3).
Without physical food, we grow weak and eventually die. And without the Bread of Life, the Lord Jesus Christ, we will die in our sins and spend eternity in hell.
May the words of Jesus resonate in our famished hearts today:
“I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty” (John 6:35).
Got food? Then give thanks to God for the physical food on your table and the spiritual food in your Bible. Without the goodness of God, you’d have neither.
Today, and every day, may this be your testimony:
“When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight” (Jeremiah 15:16).
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