Dear God

Happy Thanksgiving!!

It is November. Time of giving thanks and buying Christmas items. Hardly anyone celebrates except to use it as an excuse to get together with family and have a really big dinner. But...for nonbelievers, who are they giving thanks to? And for what? My pastor told a story yesterday, since it was thanksgiving praise night. The story goes like this:
A man got together with his family. They chatted, and had an altogether good time. Finally it was dinner. They sat down to give thanks for the food. The man prayed, "Dear God, I payed for everything. Thanks for nothing. Amen."
Now, I hope you don't actually pray that prayer, but don't we all think it at some point? Even if we don't admit it, it is human nature to thank ourselves. So what is the antidote for ungratefulness? It is to be grateful and to continually pray. Ephesians 1:16 says I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. Paul is thanking God for the Ephesian church, and their strong belief. According to Ephesians 1: 3-13 it tells us to be thankful for four things.
The first is to be thankful that we are blessed us and has given us everything we need. We have a home, clothes, a life. That's something to be thankful for. The second is that he has adopted us into his family. We are his sons and daughters, and we shall reign with him.
The third is that He has made known His will towards us. We can understand what he wants and live according to His good and perfect will. The fourth is that he has chosen us. He has chosen that we would accept him before the very foundations of the world. Those are four things to be thankful for if you are a believer.
What else can we be thankful for? We can be thankful for everything that Christ has done for us. If He chose not to, we would have no chance of getting into heaven and having an intimate relationship with God. We would be doomed to suffer in hell. I think Christ coming to save us is reason to celebrate and be thankful.
What are you thankful for?