November 24, 2022
Melissa Valerio
Did I mention Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday? Just the atmosphere alone brings back so many warm memories. Pumpkins everywhere, the orange and deep wine-colored leaves falling to the ground, the crispness of the air. And the celebration itself, gathering around the table loaded with food. Counting your blessings and reflecting on all the things we’re thankful for. So wonderful!
In the previous post, we talked about being thankful for something you wouldn’t naturally be thankful for. Something sad, hard, or unpleasant. Counter-intuitive, I know, but good for the soul. Today, I’d like to offer something else to be thankful for — God’s enduring love for us. We read in Psalm 118:1, “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever”. (NIV)
His enduring love for us, often used in the original Hebrew text as the word “chesed”, means a loyal, faithful, abounding love. This is a love that promises to endure as long as we, the recipient, promise to love God in return. Much like a marriage covenant, where both parties have a responsibility in the success of the relationship. The love remains strong as long as both parties remain loyal to each other and genuine in their love for one another. If there is ever a breakdown in the relationship between God and us, most assuredly, it’s on the part of you and me. His love is solid and unwavering. Always there, always open, always willing. It’s you and I who drift away and break the covenantal bond. And in doing so, we lose out on favor and blessing and will maybe even take a wrong path further away from God. But thanks be to God, because of His faithfulness to us, He will obstruct our (wrong) paths with anything He can in order to redirect us back to Him. Those obstructions can come in the form of a tragedy, a health scare, a lost job, a broken relationship, or anything else that breaks our heart. Why? Because He is not willing to let us go. And that, my dear friend, is something to be thankful for.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, Thank You for faithful love for us. Teach us how to remain in this same faithfulness with You. We understand that it’s not one-sided, but that we have a part in this relationship. Our hearts are willing, but sometimes our flesh is weak. Have mercy on us, please. We truly want to grow in this relationship with You, but we need You to help us because we cannot remain faithful without Your help. We are thankful for Your enduring, unending, faithful love through all generations. May it not stop with ours. In Your Holy Name, Amen.
Action: Read Psalm 118. Notice how often the writer gives thanks and praise to God. Write down your favorite scripture from this chapter and commit it to memory.
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