Thanks Be to Our God

“Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks and bless His name” (Psalm 100:4). 

“What are you thankful for?” You’re going to hear that question a lot this week. God has blessed us all, and it’s always right to give thanks to the Lord for family, health, homes, and so many other things. But lately I’ve been struck by the hope we have as followers of the Lord Jesus and how thankful I am for that anchor in my life. Last Sunday, we heard Lara sing an offertory called “Thanks Be to Our God,” which expresses some beautiful truths about God and the response of a saved soul.

The last verse says: “For the mysteries beyond the veil of death, for the peace that opens with our closing breath, when our struggles pass away and we finally see Your face, and a greater glory rises into view, thanks be to our God!”

What an amazing thought! We live in tension between the presence of God in us now and our future eternity with Him, the “already” and the “not yet.” The Lord is near, His Spirit is in us when we are saved through Jesus, and we can have joy right now because of who He is and what He has done – but it doesn’t end there. One day, our lives will end or Christ will return. When that happens, we’ll be present with the Lord forever, where all things will be made new. This Thanksgiving, I’m thankful for all the people and things God has blessed me with in this life, but right now I’m even more grateful for the hope of eternity with the Lord, and whether it’s for the “already” things or the “not yet” things, I hope you can join me and sing, “Thanks be to our God!”