“Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:20 KJV).
The first Thanksgiving in America was held by the Pilgrims of the Plymouth Colony in the autumn of 1621 in celebration of the first harvest. They held another Thanksgiving in 1623 in celebration of relief from a long drought and the arrival of a ship from England carrying much-needed supplies.
In 1863, President Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day.
Though we live in a day when more and more people feel they are entitled to so many things and fewer and fewer are thankful for what they receive, it doesn’t change the fact that we should all be very thankful, for we really do not deserve or merit any of God’s blessings.
In the Old Testament, giving “thank-offerings” was part of Israel’s worship of God (Lev. 7:12; 22:29; 2 Chron. 29:31; 33:16; Ps. 116:17; Jer. 33:11). If the Old Testament saints had much to be thankful for, the New Testament saints had more (Eph. 5:20; Phil. 4:6; Col. 3:17; 1 Thess. 5:18; 1 Tim. 4:4).
Thankfulness should be expressed for food (John 6:11, 23), for wisdom (Dan. 2:23), God’s goodness and mercy (1 Chron. 16:34), for converts (1 Thess. 1:2), prayers answered (John 11:41), victory (1 Cor. 15:57), salvation (2 Cor. 9:15), the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor. 11:24), and changed lives (1 Thess. 2:13).
Our thankfulness is a spiritual sacrifice (Ps. 116:17; Heb. 13:15), our duty (2 Thess. 2:13), should be unceasing (Eph. 1:16), spontaneous (Phil. 1:3), in Christ’s name (Eph. 5:20), is God’s will (1 Thess. 5:18), and is Heaven’s theme (Rev. 7:12).
Thankfulness is not something that comes naturally to us sinners. Hopefully, we were taught by our parents to be grateful and how to give thanks and thank God for all His gifts. A thankful person is a happy person, for thankfulness precedes happiness. Happiness is the sweet fragrance of a grateful heart. If you want to be happy, then try being thankful.
The notion of gratitude in the modern English word ‘thank’ arose out of an earlier ‘thoughtfulness’. The word also produced the English ‘think’, and the noun ‘thank’ originally meant ‘thought’. So if you find yourself devoid of any gratitude, go somewhere and think a while about all you have, and you will discover that you have much to be thankful for.
