Thanksgiving – the Holiday
Thanksgiving, which originally occurred in 1621. On this day, the Plymouth colonists from England who celebrated an autumn harvest feast with the Native American Wampanoag people. This was one of the first Thanksgiving celebrations in the colonies. In 1863, Abraham Lincoln made Thanksgiving a national holiday, where we give thanks.
More than a day to celebrate, thanksgiving is to be a way of life for all of us.
Praise the Lord! Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting. Psalm 106:1
It is God’s perfect will for us to give Him thanks. When we do this, we align ourselves with His purposes. We have so much to thank God for. Foremost on this list is the fact that He sent Jesus to die in our place. His sacrifice bought our salvation and with it untold blessings besides.
The Ten Lepers
I am reminded of the time that Jesus prayed for ten lepers (Luke 17:11-19).
“As Jesus continued on toward Jerusalem, he reached the border between Galilee and Samaria. As he entered a village there, ten men with leprosy stood at a distance, crying out, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!’
He looked at them and said, ‘Go show yourselves to the priests.’ And as they went, they were cleansed of their leprosy.
One of them, when he saw that he was healed, came back to Jesus, shouting, ‘Praise God!’ He fell to the ground at Jesus’ feet, thanking him for what he had done. This man was a Samaritan.
Jesus asked, ‘Didn’t I heal ten men? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?’ And Jesus said to the man, ‘Stand up and go. Your faith has healed you.’”
Jesus told the ten men to go to the priests to be declared ceremonially clean. As they went, God cleansed them from their leprosy but only one returned to give thanks. In the Greek, the word for ‘made clean’ is ‘katharizo’. Later, when Jesus said your faith has healed you the word for healed is ‘sozo’. This means made whole. It encompasses physical and spiritual wholeness. It’s possible that when he returned, he was not only cleansed of his disease, he was healed from the debilitating effects of it, which means that if he had lost fingers or toes or any other body parts these were restored. At the very least, the man’s thankful return to Jesus enabled him to know the Savior in a deeper way than the other nine.
Entering His Presence
Psalm 100:4 says, “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.” KJV
In order to enter Christ’s presence, we must have a thankful heart. Thankful people smile. A smile is like a cup – a cup that receives God’s presence. When we lift our hands high in worship, it’s like we are receiving the Holy Spirit. And when we truly give thanks and praise to God, we enter, through the door, into His Presence.
The Hebrew word for thanksgiving in Psalm 100:4 is “yada”. It means to throw, shoot, cast, to shoot arrows, to cast down and to give thanks. When we give thanks we release or throw our cares to God as well as our praises. And when we give thanks we shoot arrows at the devil. Another meaning could be that when we live a life of praise we become like arrows and we purposefully hit God’s target for our lives.
Giving Thanks is God’s Will for us
As mentioned earlier, it is God’s perfect will for us to thank Him. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says, “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
We are to give thanks under all circumstances. We can thank God when the sweet sun rests on our shoulders, but also when the thunderclouds burst rain upon us. Of course, it is easier to give thanks when things are going well. During difficult times, it requires an act of our will to bring God the thanks He deserves. But the Holy Spirit will help us if we ask Him to.
When we give thanks from a genuinely grateful heart, God blesses us in ways He wouldn’t have if we remained silent. Giving thanks should be a way of life.
Let’s not just celebrate Thanksgiving one day of the year, let’s make thanksgiving our lifestyle. Pray with me…
Dear Father, thank you for your wonderful presence. Thank you for your saving power and Your love that is so great. I love you Lord.
In Jesus Name I pray. Amen.
Here is a post by Martin Wiles that covers the same subject https://inspireafire.com/giving-thanks-during-the-holidays/
Yes. Thanksgiving should be a way of life.I’m sure God tires of our complaints, like He did on the Wilderness journey. Learning to be grateful is obedience.
Amen! When we are thankful, we become God-focused, as well as joyful.
Wow. I had never researched the Greek in the story of the Lepers. What a thought. He was cleansed and all the marks of the disease were gone. That’s amazing.
Our God is awesome, and He still heals today. That’s something to be thankful for! Thank you.