Even Thankful for Cheezecake
Tuesday’s Verse:
From 1 Thessalonians 5:18 ESV
“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
Yesterday afternoon, a group of nurses from the cancer center showed up at the house for a short birthday celebration. Yes, if you didn’t know, September 21 is my birthday. I wasn’t feeling great, but the nurses brought a smile to my face and a vegan “cheezecake” to the party. When they left, I thought about just how thankful I was to all of them who took time out of their incredibly busy schedules to visit this sick cancer patient on his birthday.
We Christians have a lot to be thankful for. Thankfulness is not pretending that everything in life is easy or good. Christians know sorrow, disappointment, illness, loss, and uncertainty. Yet in the midst of all that burdens us, God gives a deeper reason for thanksgiving: Jesus Christ.
We give thanks not because we have earned God’s favor, but because God has freely given us grace. In Baptism, He has named us His own. On Christ’s cross, He has forgiven our sins. In the resurrection, He has promised that death will not have the final word. At the Lord’s Table, He comes to us again with His very gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation.
The word Eucharist means “thanksgiving.” That is fitting, for at the heart of Christian worship is not our achievement but God’s generosity. We gather to receive what we cannot provide for ourselves—and then we are sent out to live with grateful hearts.
Today, give thanks for the ordinary mercies of God: daily bread, people who care for you, people who show up on your birthday with a not-cheesecake to celebrate, for the work you do, for a place to rest, and the abiding promise that nothing can separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus.
✝️ A Prayer for Today
Heavenly Father, You are the giver of every good and perfect gift. Teach us to receive Your mercies with humble and thankful hearts. Amen.
Apostles’ Creed:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Luther’s Morning Prayer:
I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.
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