Articles
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving
"The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me; to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God!” (Psalm 50:23).
I looked up ‘thanksgiving’ in a bible dictionary and it told me to look under ‘gratitude’. Interesting. Several aspects of life that are bound up in the idea of gratitude would include:
Acknowledging the gift - Many things in life are simply taken for granted and thus that even the mundane things of life are a gift from God. These things are easily overlooked until one loses it. We need to take stock of all aspects of our life in relationship with God who gives them.
Acknowledging that the gift is a GIFT - how easily we become expectant and demanding. We NEED the gift and hence we begin think of it as our RIGHT.
Acknowledging the One who gave it - all things come from God. Period. Life, air, abilities. All things are from God the giver of gifts.
Acknowledging the benefit of the gift - As we acknowledge the gift we can then acknowledge how such a gift benefits and enriches our lives.
THEN - thanksgiving breaks forth and cannot be restrained. Thus we develop the gratitude and it brings forth thanksgiving.
It is ok to set aside a ‘day of thanksgiving’ but it is more important that throughout our lives we develop a sense of gratitude. A day of thanksgiving should become a constant element in our lives - not a day of thanksgiving but a spirit of thanksgiving that pervades our lives.
“...give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thess. 5:18).
Enjoy the day and give thanks to God. Hugh DeLong
