We are well into the month of November, and you know what that means. We are getting closer and closer to that special day where we get to feast in a mighty way: Thanksgiving! Did you know the tradition of Thanksgiving, as a time to focus on God and His blessings, dates back almost 400 years in America? It’s from the pilgrims that we derive the current tradition of Thanksgiving. Following their first winter in America, the pilgrims reaped a bountiful harvest that next summer, and consequently, they declared a three-day feast in December of 1621 to thank God. And there you have America’s first Thanksgiving festival. The first national Thanksgiving occurred under President George Washington, but it was President Franklin D. Roosevelt who began celebrating Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November.
So, it’s important to remember that history, because what many of us attribute to the reason for the Thanksgiving holiday is solely due to the their first harvest of the Pilgrims. It seems more often than not, we have made food the center of Thanksgiving. It’s all about “Turkey Day” or the stuffing, or “What’s your favorite dessert on Thanksgiving?” Everything seems to be focused on the dinner table. As a nation, we have sort of idolized that part of Thanksgiving and have divorced it from how the holiday originated with the Founding Fathers, which is a time to give thanks to the Lord for everything that He has provided – not just food and a nation to live in, but everything about our lives.
So there’s three things we can learn from our history of Thanksgiving. Number one: Who did the Pilgrims give thanks to? When the pilgrims came into the land they started the first Thanksgiving, but who did they give thanks to? To God! They thanked God for their bountiful harvest. They thanked God for providing for them. They did not thank a moon god, or a sun god, or “mother nature”, nor did they give credit to their own strength and ability. They gave thanks to God, and we see that all over the Bible, all the way back to the Old Testament, where people gave thanks to God. It was toward God who they directed their gratitude.
1 Chronicles 16:34, “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever.”
Psalm 95:2, “Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving. Let us shout joyfully to Him with Psalms.”
Psalm 107:1, “Give thanks to the Lord.”
2 Corinthians 9:15, “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift.”
As you read those verse passages above, it is very clear “Who” is receiving our thanks! Who are we giving thanks to? We’re giving thanks to God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ! And you know, some of the world’s traditions may not be too far off. There are people who have a tradition of going around the dinner table and saying one thing they’re thankful for, or putting a note in the hat and writing down something good that happened. But those practices are ones that could be put to use in atheist homes because the thanks that are given may not necessarily be directed at anyone in particular. They may not be saying “thank you” to someone or some thing. That’s why it’s so important we make sure we’re directing our thanks to the One who deserves it, the Source of everything that we have, which is the Lord God.
One good example we find in Scripture is with Mary, when she found out that she was going to have Jesus. She was grateful, amazed, and thankful, and she sang a song to the Lord. Luke 1:46-47 says, “Mary said, my soul glorifies the Lord, my Spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” She goes on in the rest of her song to list all of these things that He has done for her: His mercy, His provision, and His help are among some of the things she mentions. Not only did she give thanks, but while she was giving thanks, she told the Lord what she’s thankful for and why she’s thankful to Him. That’s important for us to do also. We aren’t just thankful to the Lord because the Bible tells us to be, we are thankful to the Lord because of who He is and what He’s done for us!
There are several other examples of people in the Bible who have given thanks to God. When you look at the reasons of why they did that, we find it’s because of the way God moved in their life. God provided for them in miraculous ways. God parted the Red sea. He freed His people from Egypt. He supplied food and nourishment for Elijah. He answered the prayer of Hannah when she poured out her heart to Him for a child of her own. He provided for Ruth and Naomi.
Why would anybody give thanks? Well, because of the blessings received! When I think about my own life, why would I give thanks to God? The better question would be why would I not give thanks to God?!! He gave me healing when I was sick. He restored my marriage. He provided for my family. He made a way when there was no way. He poured out His grace and His mercy on me when I did not deserve it. But most important, I give thanks to God because He saved me. I was a wretched sinner, lost and far from God, and He came to me while I was yet a sinner, and He offered me the gift of salvation. So why would I not give thanks to him?!! That salvation was only possible because of the death of Christ. He laid down His life for me while I was yet a sinner. He endured a torturous death on my behalf so that I could have salvation. And He did that for you too! So, why would we not give thanks to Him?! Salvation truly is the greatest gift that He has ever given us.
A lot of people relate thankfulness to things, and it’s very materialistic. We think we should only be thankful if we have a nice house, a good car, lots of money, lots of clothes, good friends, and other material things. But that’s not what being thankful is about, because that’s not what Christ did for us primarily. Yes, He does give us those things, but even if we didn’t have those things, He would still be good because He gave us salvation. He gave us that gift of being able to have eternity forever with Him in heaven, and that’s enough. We shouldn’t need any physical thing besides just having Him. He gave us Himself. That’s the greatest gift that we can ever have. A great example in the Bible is when Paul is talking to the Philippians in chapter four and he testifies to knowing what it’s like to have a lot of things, and what it’s like to not have a lot of things – and knowing that God is good in both circumstances.
Paul says in Philippians 4:11-12, “Not that I’m speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound in any and every circumstance. I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.”
That seems like a hard thing to do – to give thanks “in any and every circumstance.” So how do people give thanks to God in every circumstance? How do they do it in the Bible? How did we see it in the lives of the pilgrims in American history? How do we do it today?
Psalm 86:12, “I give thanks to You, O Lord my God, with my whole heart and I will glorify Your name forever.”
Psalm 86 tells us one way we can give thanks to God is with our whole heart, meaning our mind and our heart are in agreement of giving thanks to Him, and we are glorifying Him in that process. So what does it look like to give thanks with your whole heart?
When you give thanks to God in your heart, it doesn’t mean that you just think the words “thank you” in your head. Rather, it’s a mindset. It’s a decision to be content, like Paul said in Philippians, and be thankful to the Lord no matter what. Thankfulness isn’t something that happens to you. It’s not something that just randomly comes out of you when good things happen. It’s a decision. It’s a choice. You have to purpose in your heart to be thankful, and that’s where it starts – inside.
So how do we give thanks? How do we apply that today? We should go back to Scripture and find examples of people who expressed their thankfulness. Tithing is a great example. Tithing is the act of giving back to God out of the finances that He has given to us, and we should do it with a thankful heart. Another example can be found when the Israelites built an altar and dedicated it to the Lord after He delivered them safely to the other side of the Jordan river. They made a pillar of rocks into a huge monument and then began passing down the testimony to their children and grandchildren of how the Lord delivered them. This is a great example to us of yet another way to give thanks, by share our testimony with our family and friends and telling them what God has done for us! Hannah is another good example. She gave Samuel, her son, back to the Lord as she promised she would do if He gave her a child.
With each of these examples of God’s people giving thanks, they’re showing that our gratitude is in essence a gift back to the One who first gave to us. So, if God blesses you with a good job, take the money He gave you from that job and go help someone in need, but also give it back to Him by tithing to the church. If He gives you food on the table, invite people over and share that with others. Even Jesus said “if you serve those in need, you are serving Me.” You’re giving thanks to Him by serving those who He gives you.
So, as we draw closer to Thanksgiving, we believers need to be setting a better example. Lots of people are making plans for the day after Thanksgiving. They’re going to be scoping out all of the ads, and plotting out their path and where they’re going to park to find the best deals. It’s sad, really, because we can even find memes on social media about how the day after we “give thanks,” we go and be greedy, rude, and disrespectful. What example are we showing to the lost world, then? So, as you think about Who you give thanks to, why you’re giving thanks, and how you are thanking God, remember the example you are setting as you go out into the world. Display that attitude of gratitude in such a way that others will see the light of Christ and be drawn to Him, because you have a thankful spirit and a grateful heart.
I want to challenge you to think about how you can give thanks to the Lord while preserving your testimony and showing others that He’s the One you’re thankful to and why you’re thankful for Him. Then, share that with your family and friends and people with whom you’re gathering at the dinner table, and rejoice – giving thanks to God together!