What is Thanksgiving?

   What is thanksgiving? We often think of thanksgiving as the day we all come together and eat turkey, watch football, and be with family.  When my family gets together on thanksgiving day, my mother always makes each of us go around the table and say one thing that we are thankful for. Maybe you do the same thing with your family. But why is it that we usually only consider this question on the last thursday of november? I want to challenge you to think of thanksgiving as not just a holiday but rather as a daily act of worship, a spiritual offering that we bring to the Lord. It is the everyday choice to choose thankfulness.  Instead of waiting until turkey day to consider what you are thankful for, what if you entered into each day in a spirit of thankfulness? How would that change your attitude and your mindset each day? Turn your attention with me to Psalm 100. In my bible the section header says that this is a psalm for giving thanks. In vs. 4, the psalmist writes “Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!” Because of all that God has done for us, we can enter his gates with thanksgiving. In the midst of all the craziness that is happening around us, our hope and trust in God gives us reason to be thankful. In fact, this psalm gives us two specific reasons for which we can be thankful: the Lord is God and the Lord is good.  

First of all, Psalm 100:3 says “Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his.” The Lord is God. He is the all-knowing and all-powerful creator of the universe. We can thank him for creating us in his image, for choosing us as his prized possession, and for holding us in his hands. God knows us intimately, We are his people, the sheep in his pasture. When it seems like your world is falling apart, remember that God is sovereign and make the choice to be thankful he is in complete control. He has your life in his hands and he is working in the midst of whatever it is that you are facing. He is God, and he’s got this. Secondly, Psalm 100:5 says “For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.” The Lord is good. God is full of generosity, he showers his grace and mercy upon us when we did not do anything to deserve it. We often sing this song in church: “All my life you have been faithful, all my life you have been so so good. With every breath that I am able, I will sing of the goodness of God.”  A necessary response to the goodness of God in our lives is thankfulness. How has the Lord been good to you? Instead of dwelling on the negative aspects of this past year, choose to dwell on the goodness of God and how he has been faithful to you and your family during this time. The Lord is good. A study note in my bible says that “to have an awareness of the goodness of God produces Joy in those who know they are welcome in his presence.” When we change our mindset to dwell on the goodness of God in our lives everyday, it will change our mourning into laughter, our discontent into happiness, and our sadness into joy.  

So what are you thankful for? I encourage you to enter into the Lord’s presence today, tomorrow, and every day in the spirit of thankfulness. Make the choice to deny your fleshly attitude of discontent and anger and instead choose thankfulness. Be thankful that God has brought you from death to life, he has blessed you and kept you, he has preserved you and made you holy, and he has loved you enough to send his son to die for you. Worship the Lord in thankfulness and praise him for his goodness and mercy in your life.