Don't Forget: Be Thankful for What is to Come

It's that time of year again.  Folks on Facebook, Twitter and all the media outlets share stories and accounts and all sorts of reasons under the sun for why they are thankful.  Oh, I'm not mocking this, but all of this talk about being thankful has led me to think about something.  I've noticed that when we give thanks we tend to give thanks for something that has happened or taken place in our past. 

We are thankful for the birth of our children (rightly so, I love my two daughters!).  We are thankful for the moment we encountered Christ.  We are thankful for our education.  We could go on and on.  You can just fill in the blank:  I am thankful for _______________.  Again, I agree, I think we need to keep things in perspective and always live a life full of thanksgiving.

I also think it is important to look back throughout our lifetime.  Sometimes my mind looks back and I think about who I once was before encountering Christ (and I cringe a little at that "old" person).  Looking back in that instance makes me extremely thankful that in Christ all people are new creations (2 Cor. 5:17).  Also, in the Old Testament, for example, I think Gideon had to look back so he could go forward. God instructed him to go back and literally take down the pagan altars his father built so the future would turn out different. 

This time of year (and hopefully all year long), as we think of things to be thankful for I want to encourage you to not merely look to the past.  While it is true that we have much to be thankful for, as followers of Christ we must not forget that the best is yet to come.  God is not finished with any of us yet.  I know for me that is truly something to be thankful for.  Look, for example, how the apostle Paul closes his first letter to the church in Thessalonica:

May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it. - 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 (NIV)

So as you sit around the table feasting with family and friends this week go ahead and give thanks for the many things God has done in your life.  But as you give thanks, don't forget that the best is yet to come.  God's not finished with you yet.  Go ahead and thank Him for that.

Have a blessed Thanksgiving everyone!