My Thanksgivings

Yet another excerpt from my weekly devotions. The scripture text for this time was 1Corinthians 10:16,
Being that tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day, I thought I might start by sharing some of the things I am thankful for this year. I am thankful for God Who continues to draw me closer to Himself each day. I am thankful for the Holy Spirit Who renews me daily from within. I am thankful for Jesus Christ, by Whose blood I have been saved and in Whose footsteps and am learning to walk more and more in each day. I am thankful for my family who support me so much with their love, prayer and finances. I am thankful for my friends, who continue to be living representations of God’s love and grace towards me. I am thankful for my church, in whose fellowship I can continue to grow in my relationship with God and His people. I am thankful for the V.A. who have given me a place where I can both earn a living and carry out my ministry of love and care to those who need it here. I am thankful for my fellow chaplains here, both those who supervise me, as well as those who minister along side me, for continuing to work with me and help me to improve in my serving of others. I am thankful for all of the staff here who I also work with, that you value my presence and acknowledge my service to these veterans. I am thankful for you veterans out there, that you humbly and graciously accept my service to you even when it may fall short of your expectations. The list could go on forever. Indeed it could for each of us, could it not? We each have many things and people in our lives to give thanks for. We each have many blessings from God for which to give Him praise, do we not? Let us remember that tomorrow as we gather around the table with our friends and family.
Let us also remember the greatest gift God has ever given us, that is His Son, Jesus Christ. His blood was shed for the forgiveness of our many sins and His body broken that ours might be whole again. So, when we break bread and share drink tomorrow, let us remember the One Whose body was broken and His blood shed for us. Let us invite Him to be there with us at the table as we do each time we celebrate His Communion, for as Paul wrote in the passage I read this morning, “Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?”