In the days we live in we are becoming aware of things we should be thankful for that we may have taken for granted in the past.
Things like the freedom to travel wherever and whenever we choose or going to the local shops and finding a range of food that we need.
There has also been a fresh awareness of the value and sacrifice of the NHS staff in our doctor’s surgeries and hospitals.
As Christians we’ve also had to revert to not meeting physically as a local church family on a Sunday and during the week.
Being denied these things will hopefully make use more thankful for them when things begin to turn around.
The Bible reveals God's Faithfulness
These days also give us a fresh opportunity to give thanks for the God we follow and worship. God reveals himself to us through His Word, the Bible.
As we read the Bible we should marvel at the various characteristics that make God who he is. One of the extraordinary things we see of God as we read the Bible is his faithfulness to His people throughout history.
Unlike us God is always true to His Word.
When He speaks it happens.
When God makes a promise He always fulfills it.
Responding like Moses
As he led God’s people out of Egypt and into the wilderness Moses knew something of God’s faithfulness. His desire in his leadership of God’s people was to remind them of this.
In Deuteronomy 7:9 he declares,
“Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments.”
Later on in Deuteronomy 32:3-4 Moses sings a song in front of all the people saying,
“I will proclaim the name of the Lord. Oh, praise the greatness of our God! He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.”
Moses was a man who had seen God’s faithfulness in action in his rescue of God’s people from slavery, in His leading them to a promised land and His provision of the sacrificial system for them to be His people. He had been through many struggles and hardships but was able to proclaim God’s faithfulness as he looked back.
God's Faithfulness displayed on the Cross
The faithful God who Moses was so thankful for is the same God that we trust in today. Even though the days we live in often seem dark and bring worries we can give thanks to God for his faithfulness to us.
This faithfulness is shown most clearly to us in his rescue of and provision for us through the Lord Jesus Christ’s death on the cross.
The prophet Isaiah foresaw Christ's victory for us on the cross with these words,
"Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed." (Isaiah 53:4-5)
When we remind ourselves of this we can join Moses in affirming “that the Lord our God is God. He is the faithful God.”
And we can join with Moses in saying (or singing if you wish!),
“I will proclaim the name of the Lord. Oh, praise the greatness of our God! He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.”
Why not use today to read those verses and respond to God in prayer by thanking Him for His faithfulness.