1Th 5:16-18 NLT – Always be joyful. 17 Never stop praying. 18 Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

This is my favorite time of year. For me, there is just something special about fall. I love everything about this season. The colors, temperature change, and feelings that come flooding in make fall simply amazing. 

I also enjoy that my favorite holidays are just around the corner. Soon there will be Christmas music playing, hopefully not until Thanksgiving Day, and the feeling of Christmas cheer. I know I am looking forward to some cheer. What a year 2020 has been! If ever we needed Christmas cheer, it is this year.

But before we get to Christmas, let us not quickly pass over Thanksgiving. If we are honest, we all have something… many things we should be thankful for. Even in the middle of this crazy year, God has been faithful to me. He has kept me and provided for my family. What a good God we have. I hope you feel the same way.

There is something about living with a thankful heart. We have instructions in the Word of God to be thankful in all things. 1Th 5:18 NLT “Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”. Now, we must be intentional here because it can be difficult to maintain an attitude of thankfulness in “all circumstances”. But this is our instructions, to be thankful in everything. 

I feel like the key to living in a state of thankfulness is found in the verses leading up to the command for thankfulness in all circumstances. You see Paul is writing to the church in Thessalonica and before he gets to the “thankful in all circumstances”, he first instructs you and I to “be joyful” and to “never stop praying”. 

Never stop praying may sound like an impossible task, but Paul is not expecting you and I to walk around praying out loud all the time. He is letting you know that it is possible to be aware that God is with us everywhere we go. We can have God presence with us always and for that we should be thankful in all circumstances. Thankful because no matter what we face, we are not alone.

I pray you are more mindful of the presence of God in your life during this season. Be thankful in all things, for God walks with you.