On this Thanksgiving, there's so much for which to be thankful. Given recent happenings in the life of the Wencels, I'm especially thankful for my little girl, my wife, our families, our church, progressive sanctification, the Father's rod, modern medical mercies, my work, my opportunities, my creatureliness, the material universe, our daily bread, salt, coffee, beer, cheese, wine, and on and on it would be easy to go.
But most of all, I'm thankful for God. With each passing, fleeting breath I take in this glorious theater of God, with all the new mercies I drink in each morning, I'm reminded that God is all and the fountain of all my happiness, pleasure, peace, satisfaction, and rest. With the psalmists, I confess: "I have no good apart from God." And, "There is nothing on earth that I desire besides God." And, "The Lord is my chosen portion."
So I'm deeply thankful for God as my portion and all. And I'm reminded of one of my favorite quotations from Jonathan Edwards. It's a good word to remind all that whatever you enjoy and rightfully thank God for this Thanksgiving, it's only a pointer and dim reflection of the glory from which that good emanates.
Edwards:
The enjoyment of God is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied. To go to heaven, fully to enjoy God, is infinitely better than the most pleasant accomodations here. Fathers and mothers, husbands, wives, or children, or the company of earthly friends, are but shadows; but God is the substance. These are but scattered beams, but God is the sun. These are but streams, but God is the ocean.Indeed God is the sun and ocean. Amid the intense enjoyments and delights of this day, for which I will heartily bless and thank God, my soul will still feel that pang for so much more, so much more of God.
I open wide my mouth today, O Lord, and ask You to fill it, fill it with Your good things, eternal things, durable goods, all-satisfying things, infinite things, the things of the Spirit. And I rejoice that my cry and yearning will assuredly be heard and satisfied in your good time in a new heavens and new earth! Thank you, O Lord! For you I wait all the day, all my life!
