Rather than give another turkey story at Thanksgiving, I decided I would keep it plain and simple. Paul wrote, “In everything give thanks, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:18(NASB)
Simple enough right? Well, let’s take a look.
“Give thanks” is second a string of eight participles (seeking after good, rejoicing, praying, not quenching, not despising, examining, and abstaining) attached to the main clause regarding not repaying evil for evil regarding others in 5:15. "See that no one repays” is aorist subjunctive meaning that it is a simple one time action that has yet to take place. The participles are present imperative suggesting these things need to be done at some time in the future and continuously. In other words, Paul understood that when it came to giving thanks, the Thessalonians needed to get to point B from to point A and keep doing point B.
So what does this have to do with the price of tea in China? We have become lackadaisical by celebrating Thanksgiving on the last Thursday in November. The rest of the year there’s racism, sexism, classicism, denominationalism, etc. What we should now be doing (not just when the holiday arises) is stop where we are, give thanks and keep giving thanks to God for giving us heaven’s best – Jesus Christ.
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