In the book of Philippians, the word “joy” is used 7 times, and the word “rejoice” is used 9 times. 16 times in 4 short chapters, the apostle Paul referred to joy or rejoicing, and 3 times he used the phrase “rejoice in the Lord.” As a matter of fact, in chapter 4:4, Paul says, “rejoice in the Lord ALWAYS.” In Colossians 1:12, we are told to “joyously give thanks” continually, and in Colossians 2:7, Paul says life in union with Christ looks like “continually overflowing with thanksgiving.”
I thought about what to say in this devotional on Thanksgiving Day, and usually, when people talk about Thanksgiving Day, they list the things for which they are thankful. I’m thankful for a lot, but the whole Christian life is to be a daily, continual life of joyously giving thanks, or rejoicing IN CHRIST. We are a people of good news, and at the heart of the good news of the gospel is that we have been placed into the very life of Jesus, and therefore the life that He now lives on earth, He lives through you and me. To rejoice in the Lord always means that you have come to understand that Christ himself, all that he is and all that he has, is your inheritance to enjoy at all times. To rejoice in the Lord always is to live with a perpetual sense of gratitude in light of that. We have been placed into his life, and therefore, the sphere and realm of His life is the realm and reality that we live in every moment. I go to sleep at night in Christ, and I wake every morning in Christ. Every step of my day, I take in Christ, and everything that I face, I face in Christ. One day I will discard this earth suit that I’m wearing and I will die in Christ, and will live forever in union with him throughout the endless ages.
John 15 says, “Apart from Him, we can do nothing.” The good news that causes us to live with joyful thankfulness every moment of every day is that we aren’t apart from Him. Therefore, we never do anything that’s not done in union with His extraordinarily remarkable life. Faith is simply the joyful gratitude of acknowledging that fact and enjoying the ride.
For the Christian, we don’t just have a Thanksgiving day; we have a Thanksgiving life that we can joyfully celebrate every minute of every day, and will continue to do so throughout eternity.