Merriam-Webster defines thanksgiving as “the act of giving thanks; or a prayer expressing gratitude.”
Is this also the Christian meaning of “thanksgiving?”
What exactly should Christians give thanks for and why?
“Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ”
~ Ephesians 5:20
“I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High.”
~ Psalm 7:17
A truly spiritual person is one who is thankful for everything.
He is the one who receives everything with thanksgiving and who knows that he has NOTHING except what he has received from God.
“A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven.” (John 3:27)
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” (James 1:17)
In the Old Testament, thanksgiving was fundamental in the life of God’s people.
The temple liturgy offered offerings of thanksgiving and praise and sang psalms regularly of thanksgiving to God.
In the New Testament, thanksgiving is the heart of the Church’s life.
The word eucharist means thanksgiving, and the very center of the Church’s worship of God is when, in remembrance of all His salvific acts in Christ, the faithful “lift up their hearts” and “give thanks unto the Lord.”
The Gospels introduce and the Epistles develop the concept that gratitude for God’s deliverance in Christ characterizes the believer.
When a sinful woman interrupted a dinner party to anoint Jesus with precious perfume, Jesus told his shocked host that her action sprang from gratitude for forgiveness (Luke 7:40-47).
When Jesus healed ten lepers as they walked to the temple, he marveled aloud that only one, a Samaritan, returned to thank him (Luke 7:11-19).
Paul agrees that believers should be thankful for every individual provision and that gratitude for God’s saving grace envelops the entire Christian life.
Those whom God has brought from death to life should offer their bodies to Him as instruments of righteousness (Romans 6:13).
In view of God’s mercies, knowing they were bought at a price, they should offer their bodies to God as living sacrifices in general and honor Him with purity in particular (Romans 12:1; 1 Cor 6:20).
Those who have received an unshakeable kingdom from God should be thankful, worship God, and faithfully endure the hardships of persecution (Heb 12:28).
The Bible presents us with certain protocols in how we are to enter into God’s presence, and we can read about it in Psalms 100.
Psalm 100
A Psalm of Thanksgiving.
1 Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!
2 Serve the Lord with gladness;
Come before His presence with singing.
3 Know that the Lord, He 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 INTO HIS GATES WITH THANKSGIVING,
AND INTO HIS COURTS WITH PRAISE.
Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
5 For the Lord is good;
His mercy is everlasting,
And His truth endures to all generations.
Then we read in the New Testament:
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
16 Rejoice always,
17 pray without ceasing,
18 IN EVERYTHING GIVE THANKS; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Living with a grateful heart should be a way of life for every Born-Again believer!
So how did this holiday of Thanksgiving get its start here in America?
The Real Story of Thanksgiving
Psalms 106:1
Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever!
SELAH (Let us pause and calmly think about these things)
____________________________
November 23, 2023
Worthy Brief
The Lord has us covered!
Psalm 100:4
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
Romans 8:28
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
Back in 1620, a bunch of English Pilgrims set sail on the Mayflower, looking to break free from religious persecution and find some religious freedom.
These folks, known as the Pilgrims, were mostly Separatists who had split from the Church of England because of religious disagreements.
They were originally aiming for Virginia, but thanks to some unexpected challenges, they got off course and ended up making landfall in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
Life’s full of twists and turns, right?
Now, most of you know the story of an Indian named Squanto and his first Thanksgiving celebration with the Pilgrims.
However, you might not know that over a decade before the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock, English traders were trading with the Indians throughout the region.
Squanto’s amazing story really originated then.
An Englishman named Captain Hunter had kidnapped several Indians and sold them into slavery, one of whom was Squanto, was sold into slavery in Malaga, Spain.
There, Squanto was bought by a Spanish monk, who treated him well, freed him from slavery, and taught him about Christianity.
Eventually, Squanto made it back to England and worked in the stables of a man named John Slaney.
It was there that Squanto learned English.
Upon Squanto’s return home in 1618, he learned that his tribe had been wiped out from an epidemic, probably smallpox brought by early English colonists.
As you might imagine, he was devastated and couldn’t understand how God could allow this to happen.
Shortly afterward, a friend named Samoset introduced him to the Pilgrims.
Because of Squanto’s history and understanding of English, Squanto was able to communicate with them.
He also taught them how to survive there, how to fish, hunt, and how to plant corn.
As a result, Governor William Bradford asked him to serve as his ambassador to the Indian tribes.
Bradford accredited Squanto for the survival of the Pilgrim colony and saw that without God’s providential hand in providing Squanto — the colony would not have survived.
When I first heard the story of Squanto, it reminded me of the story of Joseph and the providence of God, even in the worst of situations.
Joseph was sold into slavery, thrown into prison, accused and abused…. but all of these things were worked out for the purpose of saving the Jewish people.
The story of the survival of the Plymouth colony rested on an Indian who was kidnapped, sold into slavery, returned home to see his tribe wiped out, and yet through these events was used by God to preserve the Pilgrims who came to America with this purpose, “for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith”. (Mayflower Compact, November 11, 1620)
We have so much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving season – even despite the tough times in which we live.
While times are hard, we’re thankful to be alive for such a time as this!
So we’re entering His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise today, knowing that our God is providentially in control of everything that is going on around us.
Your family in the Lord with much agape love,
George, Baht Rivka, Obadiah and Elianna (Dallas, TX)
(Baltimore, MD)
____
God is in control…
And the Bible says He proceeds and follows us wherever we go (Ps 139:5)
Have BLESSED and HAPPY THANKSGIVING everyone!
Skip 🕊️
SB SALT AND LIGHT MINISTRIES 