President Urges Continuing Thanks.

In his weekly radio address to the nation, President Bush has asked that the Thanksgiving season be extended for a few extra days. His focus was on America’s military personnel.

Speaking primarily about the troops who are in the Middle-East, he stated, "Giving thanks has been an American tradition from the beginning. We are grateful to all our men and women in uniform who are spending this holiday weekend far from their families. We keep them in our thoughts and prayers. And we especially remember those who have given their lives in our nation's defense."

In I Thessalonians, the Apostle Paul addresses the subject of giving thanks. In chapter 2 and verse 13 he reveals his spirit of constant thanks for those who had come to Christ through the truths of Scripture.

But then later in chapter 5 he speaks to the subject of thanksgiving, but in more general terms. There he ties it directly to God’s desire for all that reside in His family through faith. Beginning in verse 16 he writes, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

Tragically, there are few aspects of the Christian experience that seem more misunderstood and less participated in than the continual giving thanks to God. But for those who know Him, and owe Him everything they are and will someday become, an attitude of thanks is to be the norm. This includes when life is going quite smoothly or when circumstances are downright frightening and miserable!

Giving thanks, regardless of outward troubles or inward burdens, is more than a good suggestion. It is not just an appropriate concept for a specified season. It is, in many ways, the essence of Christianity. It forms the basis for true worship – mankind’s highest and purest duty in this life and for the next. And one does not need to be a seasoned theologian to understand that praising his or her Creator is the direct ‘will of God in Christ Jesus’.

It has been said that, “God inhabits the praises of his people”. That was true of God’s chosen people back in Psalm 22:3. And the same holds true for those who comprise the object of His enduring love today – the precious blood-bought Church of Jesus Christ.

Bill Breckenridge