Pastor Dave Daye

It is the season for giving thanks and while we shouldn’t need a season for such a thing, it is a good reminder to think about all the things in our lives for which we should be thankful.  So this week I’m going to post 5 things for which I am thankful.  I am certainly thankful for my family, my job, my home, my friends, etc., but the 5 I want to focus on this week are even bigger than these incredible things.

First, I’m thankful for Creation.  I certainly love nature – the mountains, trees, oceans, and animals – but I’m not talking about creation in general.  I mean that I’m thankful for my creation.  It is an amazing miracle that I was created at all and that any of us were created.  I thank God that he created us because the cost to him was so great.

I believe God knows all things – past, present and future.  This means that when God created humanity he knew exactly what would happen.  We would not only turn away from him, but actively rebel against him.  Through our disobedience we would be saying to God, “We know better than you and will do what we want.”  God saw this rebellion and, in love, created us anyway.

But the wonder of our creation doesn’t stop there.  Not only did God see our rebellion, he also knew his plan.  His plan from the beginning was to create people to be with him forever in a loving, glorious, perfect relationship.  Since God is all-powerful, that plan would not fail, but the cost of its success would be God’s own son.  The moment God created me, created us, he condemned his son to die on the cross for our sins.  He made a choice that creating us was somehow worth the cost of Christ’s death and resurrection.

I do not understand how God could love us like that – how he could love me like that.  But thankfulness does not require understanding, just recognition of what has been done and giving of thanks.  So God, thank you for creating us – creating me – though I do not deserve the grace of being created by you at the cost of your son.  I may not understand the choice to create me at the great price of Christ’s death on the cross, but I can certainly thank you for doing this in your plan, your wisdom, your grace, and your love.  So this Thanksgiving I am thankful for creation.

Picture is of my daughter as a baby.