Give Thanks

“Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into His presence with singing! Know that the Lord, He is God! It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise! Give thanks to Him; bless His name! For the Lord is good; His steadfast love endures forever, and His faithfulness to all generations.”

~Psalm 100

In 1621 the Pilgrims and Wampanoa Indians held the first feast that our modern-day Thanksgiving is drawn from. The Pilgrims gave thanks in prayer as part of their religious service on a daily basis, but it wasn’t until that first harvest and abundance of food that the first feast was held. Our Thanksgiving Day has evolved over the years, and we don’t necessarily celebrate Thanksgiving for the same reasons the Pilgrims did. Most of us don’t have to till the land for food, or hope we kill an animal so our kids don’t starve—we go to the grocery store where food is abundant. Most of us celebrate Thanksgiving because it’s what we do every year, and we don’t give much thought to why or for what we have to be thankful for.

“Let them thank the Lord for His steadfast love, for His wondrous works to the children of man! For He satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul He fills with good things (Psalm 107:8-9).”

We live in one of the most prosperous times in history in one of the most prosperous countries, but as Christians, we have much more to be thankful for than material belongings. We still must be thankful for the home we have, the job, car, and all of the things the world puts so much value on but being thankful for our place in Christ is the most valuable part of our who we are. Holding on to our faith, salvation, and our love for the Lord must always be more important than anything else in our lives. And what Christ did for us on the Cross at Calvary is not just worthy of our thanks on a certain day of the year, He is worthy of our praise and thanksgiving every single day of the year.

“Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of gods, for His steadfast love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for His steadfast love endures forever; to Him who alone does great wonders, for His steadfast love endures forever; to Him who by understanding made the heavens, for His steadfast love endures forever; to Him who spread out the earth above the waters, for His steadfast love endures forever; to Him who made the great lights, for His steadfast love endures forever; the sun to rule over the day, for His steadfast love endures forever; the moon and stars to rule over the night, for His steadfast love endures forever (Psalm 136:1-9).”

Read James 1-4

©2018 Marie McGaha