Ephesians 1:15-23
The Christian year is drawing to a close and Advent is upon us. Now is the time that many of us pause to reflect on months passed, to assess where we have been and what we have done, and to acknowledge God’s many blessings along the way. Thanksgiving Day, the civil holiday celebrated today in American, is also a good time to consider one’s blessings. Perhaps it will take place as families are seated around a table, or in religious services, or public gatherings. Where there is thankfulness, there God is praised.
Paul has words of thanks for us today as well. He writes to the Ephesians, “I have heard of your faith in the Lord and your love toward all the saints, and for this reason I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers” (Ephesians 1:15-16). What Paul indicates, and what we really must remember, is that thanks and praise to God should not be limited to one time of year or another, should not be an occasional event. Paul does not cease giving thanks for the faith of his readers. Every time he prays he remembers them and gives God glory for their discipleship.
Hopefully we give thanks to God for all that God has done for us and for others every time we pray. Hopefully we do not limit our praise or ration our acknowledgement of God’s grace. Hopefully what we do today will roll over into a continual act of thankfulness to God, and into what my father-in-law calls “Thanks-living.”
May this day and all days bring you the joy of God’s peace and blessings, and may your heart be filled with thanks.
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