Fall is my favorite season. We get a break from the heat of the southern summers, the fall foliage in nature is beautiful, and I enjoy the fall sports seasons. But my greatest joy in the fall is the holiday season and the time spent with family and friends. The holiday season kicks off this week as we celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday.
As we celebrate this holiday of Thanksgiving, we have much for which to be thankful. We live in the greatest nation on earth with freedom and material blessings abounding. This is exceeded by the spiritual blessing that is available in Christ with a different kind of freedom, that is, the freedom from sin.
I hope this season of thanksgiving lets you pause to give thanks.
One of our greatest blessings is GOD’S grace. The study of grace is a marvelous study in the Bible. Grace as it appears in the Greek New Testament is translated as our English word Charis. The word means good will, loving-kindness, and favor. Our word charity derives from Charis. In the New Testament the word grace is found 156 times.
My only granddaughter’s name is Emma Grace. When she is older, I will share with her the Greek rendering of her name.
Now let us make an interesting connection between grace and thanksgiving. Paul began many of his letters with an expression of thanks. He often expressed thanks for the brethren, as in 2 Thessalonians 1:3, when he says, “We are bound to thank GOD always for you, brethren.” While we have much for which to be thankful let us not forget some of our greatest blessings are friends and family.
The Greek word for thanks is eucharisteo. Please note the word charis appears in the word thanks. The root word for thanks in the Greek is charis. It is noteworthy that at the heart of the word thanks is the word grace. This could be why some have referred to giving thanks before a meal as saying grace.
This week as we celebrate Thanksgiving, let us remember the many blessings we have that we do not deserve. And the greatest of these blessings was GOD’S grace in the form of His Son, Who loved me enough to die for me.
And as we consider GOD’S grace toward us, how can we not be thankful?
Oh Lord, create in me a thankful spirit.