This Thanksgiving, let’s remember to live for the unshakeable kingdom

Each November, we take a day to join with family, friends and neighbors to reflect upon our many blessings. We call this national day of gratitude “Thanksgiving,” which was instituted by President George Washington in 1789 and established by Congress in 1941.  

This Thanksgiving, however, will look very different. And with a year filled with change, perhaps it's difficult to give thanks.

I can only echo the words of Apostle Paul: “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Jesus Christ for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18 ESV). These are the words of a man who suffered physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. 

Of course, this does not mean we give thanks for bad things that happen to us. But outside of those circumstances, there are many other things we can be thankful for. 

I don’t mean to offer a glib remark in the face of grief — I have walked through some very dark valleys. But I have learned that thankfulness is a choice, albeit a difficult one. 

If we are in Christ, we can make that choice because we have hope. The author of Hebrews tells us, “Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe” (Hebrews 12:28). We give thanks in response to the gift of an unshakeable kingdom. 

So, how do we live for that unshakeable kingdom today?

We can live with expectation. 
It’s hard to live for eternity while we’re on Earth. It’s easy to become consumed by life here.

Moreover, there are bitter, traumatic experiences in our lives. While some may hold to the adage, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” I’d say that sometimes what doesn’t kill you may feel like it will. 

Yet, in his mercy and grace, God redeems the bad and ugly parts of our stories. 

We see in the book of Revelation a new heaven and a new earth where suffering and sorrow cease. We were not made for temporality; that was not God’s original intent for us. And with every day that passes, we are closer to seeing the Lord. 

Our eternal vantage point helps us to understand that one day, God will renew all things and set them to rights. On our worst days and on our best days, that is our hope. 

We can live with grateful hearts.  Because we can live with expectation, we can also live with grateful hearts. Paul writes:

“For I am sure neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39). 

Nothing! 

Consider the story of Job in the Old Testament. He had one disaster after another: he lost his children, his possessions, his health. In response, Job said, “Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21). 

When we feel like we can’t be thankful in or for our circumstances, we can be thankful for who God is. The Lord gives and takes away, but he is worthy of our praise in all things. 

We can live with a sober mind.

I think of the parable Jesus told of the man who built his house on the rock and the man who built his house on the sand:

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it” (Matthew 7:24-27).

We live in a shaky world, so we can’t build our lives on a shaky foundation. We must build them on Christ, the rock — or in other words, don’t put your trust in material possessions or your own strength, but in Jesus.

I love how the poet and hymn writer Annie Johnson Flint put it so beautifully:

“As we offer our small rejoicing for the love that surrounds our days