It’s hard to believe that it is already November. We are rapidly approaching the end of another year. November is the month of Thankfulness. A time when many focus on the things that we should be thankful for. But thankfulness is a way of life not just a month or a holiday.

The scriptures that teach us to be thankful are numerous: “Giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph. 5:20). “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God” (Phil. 4:6). “Pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thess. 5:17-18). “Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men” (1 Tim. 2:1). “Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name” (Heb. 13:15). These are just a few examples.

Thankfulness, like joy, is a chosen frame of mind. Thankfulness is created by a connection with God that is informed and shaped by our knowledge of Him, not our assumptions about Him, but a familiarity with what God says about Himself and how He governs the world. To understand that our existence itself is attributable to God, to learn that “every good gift and every perfect gift is from above” (Jas 1:17); to recognize God as our heavenly Father who loves everyone but especially those of faith and to know what price God paid to redeem us from sin and death (Jn 3:16); to realize that God not only wants to spare us from eternal condemnation but offers us a place in His presence, that kind of knowledge creates a gratitude and gladness of heart that reviling, prison, chains, illness, tragedy and even death cannot touch.