A Thankful Heart

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.” -Ephesians 1:3-14

In studying Ephesians 1:3-14 this week, I am reminded of how much we have to be thankful for in Christ. I love that Paul begins and ends this section of scripture with praise to our Father. Paul writes, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.” Paul begins the book of Ephesians with praise to an almighty God who has abundantly blessed us with these spiritual blessings that we have in Christ. He then punctuates this section with “the praise of his glory.” As we look through these 12 verses, we get a glimpse of just a few of the blessings we have in Christ.

Despite our circumstances or the difficulties this week may hold for us, these are just a few reasons for us to be thankful:

• He has blessed us with an abundance of spiritual blessings (3).

• He chose us (4).

• We are covered in His righteousness (4).

• We are loved by the Father (4).

• We are adopted into the family of God (5).

• He poured out His grace on us (6).

• We are “in the Beloved (6).”

• We are redeemed through the blood (7).

• We are forgiven (7).

• His grace has been lavished upon us (8).

• We have an inheritance (11).

• We have been sealed with the promised Holy Spirit (13).

There are many more even throughout this section of scripture. How would our life look different if we were to daily remind ourselves of these spiritual blessings? Spurgeon compares our blessings on this earth to these spiritual blessings in Christ:

“Our thanks are due to God for all temporal blessings; they are more than we deserve. But our thanks ought to go to God in thunders of hallelujahs for spiritual blessings. A new heart is better than a new coat. To feed on Christ is better than to have the best earthly food. To be an heir of God is better than being the heir of the greatest nobleman. To have God for our portion is blessed, infinitely more blessed than to own broad acres of land. God hath blessed us with spiritual blessings. These are the rarest, the richest, the most enduring of all blessings; they are priceless in value.”

As we approach this Thanksgiving holiday and reflect on the blessings that we have in Christ, may our response be like Paul’s; a heart of praise. May we wake up this week longing for more of God’s word in the morning, reflecting on His blessings for us throughout the day, and singing songs of praise to Him in the night.

Praying for you all this week!