Thanksgiving

Tuesday, November 14, 2017

thanks·giv·ing

ˌTHaNGksˈɡiviNG/

noun

1. 1. 

   the expression of gratitude, especially to God.

   "he offered prayers in thanksgiving for his safe arrival"
2. 2. 

   (in North America) an annual national holiday marked by religious observances and a traditional meal including turkey. The holiday commemorates a harvest festival celebrated by the Pilgrims in 1621, and is held in the US on the fourth Thursday in November. A similar holiday is held in Canada, usually on the second Monday in October.

Thanksgiving is one way to express gratitude — to be thankful to God for His provisions. We do have a special time in the fall of the year in the United States when we celebrate this. But we can show thankfulness at any time. 

What are you thankful for and to whom do you need to express it?

• Do we thank our families enough for who they are?
• Do we show thankfulness to our co-workers for helping us with things?
• Do we say thank you to all the different people who show us small kindnesses every day?
• How do we treat those people who are supposed to be nice to us, like waitresses or people at a cash register or ministerial staff or healthcare workers? Should we thank them even though being nice or helpful is just an expectation of their jobs? 
• Do we recognize God’s blessings in our lives and do we specifically thank Him for them?

I don’t know. It seems like we are a people who just expect things to happen and don’t show a whole lot of thanksgiving in return. But we sure do fuss if things don’t go the way we plan. Immediate gratification. Selfishness. Entitlement. Call it what you want. We can sure be brats sometimes. 

But I think the same statement I used yesterday applies today. Thanksgiving isn’t thanksgiving unless you do something about it. 

So look at your life. Find the wonderful things in it. Thank God for His provisions and tell others what He has done. 

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.
‭‭Psalm‬ ‭100:4-5‬ ‭NIV‬‬