What does Thanksgiving mean to you? No matter what the past year held for you, Thanksgiving can be a time of gratitude and renewed hope!
When I think of the Thanksgiving holiday, my thoughts instinctively turn to spending time with family, enjoying home-cooked food lovingly prepared in celebration of the season, and participating in special times of thanksgiving and prayer with those I hold dear. However, as this holiday season approaches, I also can’t help but reflect on the past year. Despite the difficult times many in this country have experienced during the past year, there is still so much that we have to be grateful for.
Most of us know a little about the history of the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States. But I think it’s important that we understand that our first Thanksgivings were celebrated under very different circumstances than we celebrate them today. The first English settlers gathered to give special thanks to God for safe arrival in a new land. Just a couple of years later, a New England Thanksgiving was commemorated in the summertime after approximately half the settlers had succumbed during the harsh winter months. It was a time of thanksgiving, all right, but it was also a time of prayer and of hope for better days ahead.
The United States has seen many “better days” since that time, and the Thanksgiving holiday has become an integral part of our heritage as American citizens. For those of us who are Christians, how much more should thanksgiving—the giving of thanks and gratitude—be a vital part of our spiritual heritage. There’s so much said in the Word of God about thanksgiving. In fact, in a sense of the word, thanksgiving is a dominant theme that runs from Genesis to Revelation. When you read the Psalms, for example, you can’t read very many verses at a time without reading something about thanksgiving. Those psalms were Israel’s prayer- and song-book. And they were full of admonishments to give thanks to the Lord.
But thanksgiving should be more than just words. Not only should we speak words of thanks to God; we should cultivate a heart-attitude or feeling of thanksgiving to Him. When we truly realize what God has done for us, we can’t help but voice from the depths of our hearts our gratitude and praise.
Even if right now you’re not enjoying all the blessings He has provided, you can offer to God a heart of praise. No matter what country you’re a citizen of, if you are in Christ, yours is a heritage of thanksgiving. So purpose to make this special season one of gratitude, of prayer, and of bright hope for your future!
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