Heart to Heart
//Kenneth W. Hagin
Giving Thanks—Every Day
This is the time of year when we gather together with family and friends to observe a special day of thanksgiving. Turkey dinners and football games will abound as old memories are rehashed and new memories are made. But most of all, this should be a day when we express our thanks to our Heavenly Father.
It's proper to give thanks to God for what Jesus Christ did for us. No one else could do what He did. No one else could save us.
Colossians 1:12–14 says, "giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins" (NIV 1984).
Jesus made it possible for us to become children of God and joint-heirs with Him (Rom. 8:16–17). He made it possible for us to be cleansed from all of our sins and unrighteousness, and He opened the way for us to have access into the very presence of God (Heb. 4:15–16).
That's enough to be thankful for! But the salvation Jesus obtained for us also includes healing, protection, and prosperity—the good life. That's what Jesus said in John 10:10: "I've come that you might have life and have it more abundantly."
Hallelujah! God made a way for us because He loved the world so much (John 3:16). And we can be thankful, because He is for us. He is leading, guiding, and protecting us, and with Him on our side, no one can stand against us (Rom. 8:31)!
I want to encourage you—don't just relegate thanksgiving to one day a year. Make it a lifestyle! Count your blessings every day, and continually thank your great God for all He has done for you. Happy Thanksgiving!
