As Christ’s believers, we have a lot to thank God for. First, we thank God for our Lord Jesus Christ who saved us to be with Him forever. “Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift” (2Corinthians 9:15)!
“Noble Turkey” colored pencil by Raisa Estrada
We thank God that Jesus will rescue us from this body of death. “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 7:24-25a)! We thank God that He gives us the victory in and throughout this life: “But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57)! “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.” (2 Corinthians 2:14). “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Colossians 3:17).
Thanksgiving in America traditionally began in October 1621 when the Pilgrims’ Governor Bradford declared a day for giving thanks. William Brewster prayed at the beginning, thanking God for providing all their needs even through their lack of faith, for the lives of those He had taken home to be with Him (they had lost about half their number), for their friendship with the Natives, and for His providences in bringing them to the place where Natives were not living and sustaining them. After 90 Wampanoag people showed up, the feast continued for three days. It was a joyful time full of God’s blessings.
In 1789 our nation began operating under the Constitution. That year at the request of Congress, President George Washington proclaimed a Day of Thanksgiving. In the middle of the Civil War in 1863, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November a day of “Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens” and urged all Americans to “with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience…fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation”. From 1942 onwards Congress declared the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day.
Thanksgiving Day currently is celebrated by most Americans as a day of feasting and football more than giving thanks to God. Nevertheless, giving thanks is at least considered by most Americans, and I think that most do give at least cursory thanks for the good things they receive. The day does provide us Christians with a special day on which to specifically give God thanks for His abundant goodness to us as a nation. We ought to be especially alert to opportunities to speak up about our thanks to God this month. It is easy to say to a cashier or coworker, “I thank God for the beautiful fall-colored leaves”—or whatever strikes you at that moment.
An attitude of gratitude is an asset all the time. Indeed, we are to thank God always, not just one day a year. “Always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:20). “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Let’s make the most of every opportunity and speak out our thanks to God publicly and privately. For God is good, all the time. Thanks be to God!
Tom Giesecke (Sonrise Magazine Editor) Author. Grew up in Olympia, WA, where he received Christ at age 15. He graduated from Davidson College, NC, and Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA. After his medical internship at the National Naval Medical Center Bethesda, MD, he trained and served as a U.S. Navy Flight Surgeon for four years. Following residency training, he served thousands of people as a Board-certified Family Physician for more than thirty-five years. Learning of God’s love motivates Tom to daily search the Scriptures for more. Tom has led Bible studies for many years and enjoys sharing “the word of God, and recently publishing a book (find in the Sonrise Bookstore and Amazon) on the grace of God: Gracious Goodness.” Reach Tom at tomgiesecke@comcast.net
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