Thanksgiving is one of our main national holidays here in the U.S.A. A good question to ask is "Are we as Christians celebrating it the way the Lord would have us celebrate, or have we compromised with the world?"
Have we lost the emphasis on thanksgiving and prayer and shifted it to a gluttonous feast of food, drink and games like those in the world have done?
More and more the media is referring to this holiday as "turkey day" instead of Thanksgiving Day. They also eliminate the object of who we are to offer our thanks. We are just to be "thankful" we are told. Who should our thanks be directed to? The object of our thanks for our many blessings, should be directed to the Lord God. It should not just be a general "thanks."
The psalmist said in Psalm 35:18, " I will give thee thanks in the great congregation: I will praise thee among much people." You can be sure that the Bible encourages and commands the people of God to give thanks to our blessed and glorious Lord. There is something about the grateful heart that brings pleasure and satisfaction to the heart of the holy and righteous God.
I know that is so because it is clearly the will of God that His chosen people give much thanks unto him (1 Thess. 5:18). So many folks want to grumble, groan and gripe instead of thank God for what He has already given to them.
Rendering thanks to God is not to be an occasional act of God’s people, but it is to be a way of life. How do I know? The word "give" used in regard to thanks in 1 Thess.5:18 is in the Greek "present tense" in the New Testament. That suggest that thanksgiving is to be an ongoing and continual thing in the lives of God’s dear people. Why are we to give thanks unto the Lord?
Have we lost the emphasis on thanksgiving and prayer and shifted it to a gluttonous feast of food, drink and games like those in the world have done?
More and more the media is referring to this holiday as "turkey day" instead of Thanksgiving Day. They also eliminate the object of who we are to offer our thanks. We are just to be "thankful" we are told. Who should our thanks be directed to? The object of our thanks for our many blessings, should be directed to the Lord God. It should not just be a general "thanks."
The psalmist said in Psalm 35:18, " I will give thee thanks in the great congregation: I will praise thee among much people." You can be sure that the Bible encourages and commands the people of God to give thanks to our blessed and glorious Lord. There is something about the grateful heart that brings pleasure and satisfaction to the heart of the holy and righteous God.
I know that is so because it is clearly the will of God that His chosen people give much thanks unto him (1 Thess. 5:18). So many folks want to grumble, groan and gripe instead of thank God for what He has already given to them.
Rendering thanks to God is not to be an occasional act of God’s people, but it is to be a way of life. How do I know? The word "give" used in regard to thanks in 1 Thess.5:18 is in the Greek "present tense" in the New Testament. That suggest that thanksgiving is to be an ongoing and continual thing in the lives of God’s dear people. Why are we to give thanks unto the Lord?
I. It Pleases The Lord
(1 Thessaloninans 5:18). The practice of giving thanks to the Lord is clearly His divine will. Rest assured that God is pleased hen we do what He desires us to do in regard to any matter. Compare 1 Samuel 15:22. It delights God when we appreciate Him enough to render our thanks unto Him.
II. It Proclaims Our Gratitude.
If you recall in Luke 17, the Lord Jesus cleansed ten lepers. Only one of them came back to thank the Lord for the miracle of their cleansing. One out of ten is 10 %. I wonder in our churches if that percentage is really thankful to God.
III. It Provokes Others.
I do not mean to "provoke" in a bad sense. Hebrews 10:24 says we are to consider one another and to provoke one another to love and good works. The word "provoke" in that verse has the idea of inciting or stirring up others to do what is right. When you are thankful it is contagious: it will catch on and others will be.
IV. It Produces Contentment.
As we are thankful to God for what He has given us, we become more and more contented with what is already ours through and from Him. Refuse to live restlessly.
V. It Portrays Christ.
As you read of the life of Christ, He was repeatedly thankful to His Father for His goodness. See Luke 10:21 and John 11:41. We properly picture Jesus when we are thankful. -Special thanks to Dr. Tom Walker
As you read of the life of Christ, He was repeatedly thankful to His Father for His goodness. See Luke 10:21 and John 11:41. We properly picture Jesus when we are thankful. -Special thanks to Dr. Tom Walker
The first American Thanksgiving was celebrated less than a year after the Christian Plymouth colonists had settled in the new land of America. The first Thanksgiving Day, set aside for the special purpose of prayer as well as celebration, was decreed by Governor William Bradford in July 30, 1623. There were harvest festivals, or days of thanking God for plentiful crops.
During the Revolutionary War, eight special days of thanks were observed for victories and for being saved from dangers. On November 26, 1789, President George Washington issued a general proclamation for a day of thanks. Our national day of thanksgiving was proclaimed by President Lincoln in 1863 with these words, "a day of Thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father."
Today we still celebrate this national and legal holiday, but are we celebrating in the right manner as Christians? Are we forgetting the main purpose of this day is prayer and thanksgiving as we feast and fellowship? The Lord is not opposed to our feasting and our gathering of friends and family to dine, but if our only prayer is to ask God to bless our food are we not forgetting the real meaning of this day?
God delights in blessing us as His children. However, do we, as His children delight in blessing Him with our prayers and thanks? Let us ask God to forgive us and truly celebrate this day in real thanksgiving and prayer. - Betty Miller, Overcoming Life Digest (Nov./Dec. 1997 Issue)
Scripture: 1 Chronicles 29:11-13; Psalm 145:7; Psalm 107:1; Psalm 31:19
Now, let's pray...
O Father, give us the humility which realizes its ignorance, admits its mistakes, recognizes its need, welcomes advice, accepts rebuke. Help us always to praise rather than to criticize, to sympathize rather than to discourage, to build rather than to destroy, and to think of people at their best rather than at their worst. This we ask for in thy name's sake. Amen
Until next time...
Have a blessed week!
Bibi
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.