We will soon be observing Thanksgiving Day (November 23rd). What does this day mean to you? What should it mean? I believe it is a time when we should ask God for forgiveness for our sins, repent of any disobedience, and thank Him for all that He has given us. President Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a national holiday in 1863 during the Civil War.
In 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NLT) we read “Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”
I look at what Paul wrote and the only conclusion I can come to is that thankfulness should be a way of life for us, naturally flowing from our hearts and mouths.
In Psalm 136:1 (NLT) we read, “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! His faithful love endures forever.” The entire Psalm is a song of praise to our wonderful Father in heaven. He is continually good and His love is unfailing.
The Apostle Paul, in 2 Corinthians 2:14 (NLT) wrote, “But thank God! He has made us captives to lead us along in Christ’s triumphal procession. Now He uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume.” We should praise God continually because He has given us everything we need in order to live victoriously in the present world.
We can be thankful to God for His sustaining presence in our lives when we are faced with grief and other trials. The Apostle Peter in 1 Peter 1:6-7 NLT wrote, “So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. 7 These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So, when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.” Praise God for the way He brings forth purity in our lives as He refines us through the trials we go through.
In James 1:16-17 NLT we read, “So don’t be misled, my dear brothers and sisters. 17 Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.”
The concept of God’s goodness rules out the possibility that God would send an influence as destructive as temptation. His gifts are marked by kindness and helpfulness, not destruction. His gifts are perfect, which would eliminate any possibility of moral evil such as tempting us to commit any kind of sin. Praise God, that when temptations come, we can be sure that they are not from God and that He will give us the grace to be overcomers.
My last thought is that the word Thanksgiving comes from an old Anglo-Saxon word that meant “thanksliving.” Our gratitude to God for His goodness to us should be seen in the way we live. In 1 Corinthians 10:31 NLT Paul wrote, “So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”
This Thanksgiving may we be more intentional in offering up to God the thanks He deserves for all the ways He has blessed us, than we are in what we are going to put on the table.
All praise to Him,
Pastor Leonard
