Americans will celebrate Thanksgiving Day for the 155th time this week. As many of you know, President Abraham Lincoln made Thanksgiving an official US Holiday in 1863. He asked all Americans to set aside the last Thursday of November “as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens.”
Wow. It’s a good thing the “separation of church and state crowd” wasn’t around in Lincoln’s day or we wouldn’t have a Thanksgiving Holiday at all!
I am a little surprised the secularists haven’t caught on to the religious nature of Thanksgiving. If they had, they would have tried to do to Thanksgiving what they are doing to Easter and Christmas.
The word “Easter” is being edged out of our Easter celebration. It’s being replaced by “Spring Celebration” or nothing. Secularists don’t want to be reminded of Jesus’ resurrection.
Secularists have also reframed Christmas to avoid any mention of the birth of Christ. Merry Christmas is now Happy Holidays. They know someone was born. Secularists just don’t want to say who!
But we know better, don’t we?
Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Christ.
Easter is a celebration of Jesus’ death and resurrection.
And, Thanksgiving is a time to give thanks to God for all the blessings He has bestowed upon us. We need no presidential proclamation to give thanks to God, but it is nice we have one day set aside when we can come together as a country to give thanks.
Thanksgiving in the Bible
Both the Old and New Testaments have countless admonishments to give thanks to God. One of my favorites written by King David is Psalm 100. Psalm 100 is appropriately titled, A Psalm of Thanksgiving:
1 Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth.
2 Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before Him with joyful singing.
3 Know that the LORD Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
4 Enter His gates with thanksgiving And His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name.
5 For the LORD is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting And His faithfulness to all generations.
Did you notice all the action-oriented verbs in Psalm 100? Seven elements of thanksgiving are included in Psalm 100, and they are all focused on action:
- Shout joyfully (v. 1).
- Serve the Lord with gladness (v. 2a).
- Come before Him with singing (v. 2b).
- Enter into His gates with thanksgiving (v. 4a).
- Enter His courts with praise (v. 4b).
- Be thankful to Him (v. 4c).
- Bless His name (v. 4d).
Shout, serve, come, enter, be thankful, and bless.
Additionally, we should give thanks to God because of who He is. He is our:
- Lord (v. 1).
- God (v. 3a).
- Creator (v. 3b).
- Owner (v. 3c).
- Shepherd (v. 3d).
Why should we give thanks to God? Because He is good (v. 5a), His lovingkindness is everlasting (v. 5b), and He is faithful to all generations (v. 5c).
What is Thanksgiving?
For some people, Thanksgiving is all about the food. The turkey, cranberries, stuffing, potatoes, and gravy. And let’s not forget the pumpkin and pecan pies! We gobble until we wobble!
For some, Thanksgiving is all about football. With zombie-like stares, we focus on one game after another.
For some, Thanksgiving is like a starting gate. Serious shoppers prepare to race to the big sales that arrive the next day!
But we know better.
We know that Thanksgiving is a day to thank God for His provision, His providence in our lives, and His peace which surpasses all understanding.
So, let’s come together this Thanksgiving and give thanks! Enjoy some turkey and watch a football game if you feel like it. However, above all, take time to give thanks!
Join the Conversation
As always, questions and comments are welcome. What are you most thankful for this Thanksgiving?
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Category: Personal Development | Dependence on God
