By Geoffrey P. Lantos, Professor of Marketing
Photo Credit: Brittanica
Time to pack your suitcase (and [sigh] schoolwork to catch up on) and head over the river and through the woods (or, more likely, down the highway and through the congestion), home for the Thanksgiving holiday.
You’ll likely spend time with the folks, gobble turkey and stuff on stuffing, not to mention Grandma's pumpkin pie (extra Cool Whip please!), and meet up with your homies at the Hometown High football game.
But, amidst all of the merriment, neglect not the One who makes all of our good times, good friends, and kinfolk possible. Unfortunately, we tend to busily go about our holiday business - studying, working, heartily partying - without pausing to consider the One from whom all blessings flow. Yet, we often give ourselves the credit for these blessings instead of acknowledging that every good thing is from our Creator’s hand. It wasn’t always this way. We call it Thanksgiving because our Pilgrim forefathers were resolutely devoted to Almighty God and His Son Jesus Christ. In recognition of His gracious hand upon them, they set aside regular public days to give thanks and glorify Him. Throughout most of our history, Americans understood that Thanksgiving day is to thank God for His manifold blessings. Separating God from Thanksgiving is like separating pumpkin from pumpkin pie (which should never be separated from the Thanksgiving feast!).
Moreover, it is good practice to make every day a thanksgiving day as part of your daily prayers. Thanksgiving rightly is more than a day; it is a daily manner of life. However, these days, if people do pray, it is usually in the spirit of a child making out a Christmas wish list: "gimmee, gimmee, gimmee.” But prayer—and thanksgiving—is so much more than such supplications (prayer requests for others and self)!
We are instructed in Psalms 104:4 to “Enter into His gates (presence) with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name.” “Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!” exhorts Psalm 106:1
The ACTS prayer formula suggests we save the Supplications for last. Rather, it is fitting to begin our prayers with praising and thanking God for Who He is (all-loving, all-knowing, all-powerful, merciful and forgiving, etc. (Adoration in ACTS). He is forgiving if we confess our known sins to Him (Confession in ACTS).
Following Adoration and Confession, we’re ready for Thanksgiving. But, what if you don’t feel very thankful—life hasn’t been going well for you lately? The Apostle Paul wrote, “Rejoice in the Lord always again I will say rejoice” (Philippians 4:4) and “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:18).
These words to give thanks in everything were written by Paul, whose loyalty to Christ earned him severe persecution. Yet, he knew that God has a plan and a purpose for all that happens to us, good and bad. Paul realized that God is sovereignly in control of everything and that by faith he should thank God and trust Him to sustain him even in those bad situations. He also knew that his riches in Jesus far outweighed any earthly discomfort. And those same blessings are available to all believers in Him.
So what are the blessings that we all share in common and so can thank Him for? There are many, most of which we take for granted: giving us another day of life in this time and place He has placed us in; being interested in, involved with, and orchestrating events in our lives; hearing and answering our prayers according to His perfect will in His perfect timing; abundantly providing for all of our needs and for many of our greeds (wants); our natural talents and abilities, which enable us to accomplish what we do; our family and friends; our pastors, churches, and church families; a country with democratic freedoms and a military to keep us safe and free; our health; our (future) careers; His beautiful creation;;and so many other things that we take for granted—He is so good to us!
The most important blessing: Jesus dying a gruesome death and rising to pay for our sins, thereby giving us eternal life and an inheritance in heaven if only we will bow before Him in humility and acknowledge we are sinners who transgress His moral law and that He is the good God Who is worthy of our thanksgiving and praise and Who forgives confessed sins.
A practical blessing of giving thanks in all circumstances is that an attitude of gratitude strengthens your immune system, making you more resistant to stress and less susceptible to illness. A study from the University of California-Riverside showed that those who express gratitude can lower their blood pressure levels; reduce feelings of depression, stress, or anger; and lower their risk of health disorders. And, people who are grateful are generally happy.
Let us be thankful that we live in a country that endorses a national holiday focused on telling God something we should say more often: “Thank you.”
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