Happy Thanksgiving. The history books tell us that Thanksgiving Day in Canada can be traced all the way back to the explorer Martin Frobisher who celebrated a thanksgiving for safety in a perilous journey. For a while it was held in connection with Remembrance Day but was transferred to October so that the holidays wouldn’t be confused. In 1957 it became an official holiday to express:
“Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed … to be observed on the 2nd Monday in October…”
There it is. By an act of Parliament Canada sets aside the second Monday of October to give thanksgiving to almighty God. The holiday stays. The reason for its existence gets forgotten. But it is more than a reason for a holiday that is forgotten. God is left behind. People want the holiday. Most of them are genuinely thankful for the good things that they have. And make no mistake. In this country there is plenty to be thankful for. But there is also a God to be thankful to. Thia is what gets left out of Thanksgiving. People will talk about what they are thankful for but we hardly hear it mentioned in public, on radio, television or in print – who we are to thank. Believers are anxious to celebrate Thanksgiving because they are anxious to let others know what God has done for them. We are thankful to God.
We are thankful to God because:
1) Every good and perfect gift comes from Him (James 1:18).
2) Without Him we can do nothing (John 15:5).
3) We are created with the purpose of giving God praise. To be less than thankful is to deny our purpose and that is never a healthy thing.
4) We are called to not forget all His benefits (Psalm 103:2).
5) God is good and full of mercy (Psalm118:1-4)
6) He has made us partakers of the inheritance of the saints (Colossians 1:12).
Thankfulness will mark the real Christian. Anyone who has come to Christ by grace through faith cannot but have a thankful heart that demonstrates itself in thankful living. An ungrateful attitude is an unchristian attitude and comes from those who do not know Christ.
Thankfulness will mark the real believer all the time. And we are glad for the opportunity to mark one day aside to thank God for His multiple blessings. But if we are truly thankful for all that God has given us let us show it in rich generosity. God has been generous to us so that we will have something to share with those who have less. Let us do good to all especially those of the household of faith.
We will not be like those who are quiet about who they are thankful to. We will be thankful and we must be anxious for others to know that it is God who is responsible for all the good things that we have.
Truly thankful hearts will want others to know about a great gift. If we who are believers are really grateful to God for all He has done for us we will not keep quiet about it. Let us show our gratitude this Thanksgiving by directing our words of thanks upward to the One who deserves to be thanked. Tell someone about a great generous God who not only has given a bountiful harvest but brings a harvest of righteousness to all who call upon Him.
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