A New Thought for Thanksgiving

Recently many people around our country gathered around tables laden with delicious food and shared in a very special meal that we call Thanksgiving. It is also a day in which most of those same people offered a special prayer before the meal, thanking God for not just the meal alone, but for blessings that He has provided during the year. Typically, despite various religious beliefs and affiliations, most everyone says “Amen” and begins (thankfully) devouring the food, often not giving a second thought to that prayer. In this article I want to share with you some “second thoughts” we should be considering when we offer thanks to God.

Thanksgiving infers Recognition

It is not common that one is thankful without recognizing the source of a gift or blessing. Something as simple as thanking another for holding the door open infers that we have recognized that person for what they have done. This holds true within the Bible as well, as individuals who were giving thanks did not do so generally, but highlighted the One who bestowed those blessings! When the Ark was returned to Jerusalem in 1 Samuel 16, David appointed Asaph and his brothers to sing thanksgiving to the Lord! “Oh give thanks to the LORD; call upon His name; make known His deeds among the peoples!” (v.8) In fact, nearly every reference to the word “thanks” in scripture is attributed to God, and rightly so. HE alone is the source of all good things (James 1.17). But what many fail to realize is that when one recognizes God for what He has done for us, it requires a response from us.

Recognition demands Obligation

If one would seek to be right before God, there is no way to recognize Him without being obligated to Him. To know God and yet not feel obligated to obey Him is described in Romans 1.21: “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” Notice that these individuals are not in good standing. Their thinking is described as futile, or hopeless. Their hearts are darkened. Many today are certainly aware of God, and often at times of thanksgiving are willing to offer up at least a token version of thankfulness, yet they stop short of honoring Him! We cannot afford to harbor such futile thoughts as these.

Expressing thankfulness to God implies that we recognize Him the source of our blessings, and as such we are obligated to honor and obey Him as Lord! One cannot pick and choose the aspects of God they wish to recognize or not, such as accepting God as Provider while rejecting Him as Lord. The God that created heaven and earth in Genesis 1 is the same God that instructed Adam and Eve not to partake of the forbidden tree in Genesis 2. The God that freed the Israelite slaves in Exodus 12 is the same God that gave the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20. The God that loved us to the point of sending His Son to die on our behalf (John 3.16) is the same God that inflicts “vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.” (2 Thessalonians 1.8) Of course we are obligated to God whether we recognize Him as Lord, but it is particularly foolish to believe we please God with our thankfulness while we live in defiance of His will.

So, as we sit down to eat, whether it be a normal day or a holiday, let us stop to consider what it means when we offer thanks to God. Consider that God has done so much for us besides the food offered on the table, which soon will be a distant memory. Consider whether our lives are lived in true thankfulness to God for His great gifts for us, because the purest form of thankfulness to God is obedience. “But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.” (Romans 6.17-18)