With the actual day of Thanksgiving being only one day away, I want to present and consider some reasons why we must make it much more than a once-a-year observance and practice.
I am in complete agreement about celebrating and commemorating the historical aspect of Thanksgiving.
The narrative of the Pilgrims and Native Americans coming together to feast and give thanks to God for keeping them alive as well as the games and festivities that took place during this time.
Nevertheless, in spite of its historical significance and the fact that it is the trigger event that officially begins the holiday season that extends through New Year’s Day, in my opinion, the Thanksgiving season is one of the most important times of the year. Why?
Because it reminds and puts emphasis on the fact that we (flawed and finite humans) should give thanks to our Creator and Sustainer for all that He has done and continues to do in spite of our degeneracy and defiance.
Whether you have confessed and accepted His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, into your heart and life as Lord and Savior, our Heavenly Father (Who causes the sun to shine on the just as well as the unjust) is still good and merciful to you.
Because of this, there are many reasons why you should give thanks to Him not just during Thanksgiving season, but year-round.
The following are a few of the reasons why we should make Thanksgiving more than a holiday, but a continual practice.
Because He Made and Sustains Us
Whether you are a believer or unbeliever, sinner or saint, God created you and made you a distinct individual unlike anyone else upon the earth. Even if you have an identical twin, each of you are unique with our own personality, abilities, and other distinct characteristics that define your individuality. Not only did God make you, but all your life He has been sustaining you with all the basic essentials that are necessary to life like air, water, food, and other essentials that we too often take for granted. If there were no other reasons to be thankful this year this is certainly one.
Good Health:
Mentally and Physically
It is so easy to forget that our mental and physical fitness is a gift from God. As a pastor, I often pray for and minister to people who are struggling to recover or overcome physical and mental illnesses. These illnesses are often the result of sicknesses, accidents, anxiety, and aging that none of us can escape, if we live long enough.
So, if you are in the category of not having to grapple with neither physical or mental illness of some sort or degree, you should not forget to give thanks to God every day for being so good to you.
A Good Job and Source
of Legitimate Income
In the very top category of why we should truly be thankful is the fact that we have a good job and legitimate source of income.
I took special effort to say legitimate source of income because we are wrong to thank or accredit God for any income that we may get in an illegal or immoral way.
It is an offense and abomination to God to give thanks to Him for ill-gotten gains like drug trafficking, robbery, cheating people, price gouging, and such like. However, if you have a good and legitimate job that affords you a decent income and standard of living, you should be thankful to God every day, not just once a year.
To Be a Citizen
of America
In spite of all the problems that we are confronted with as a nation (political division and paralysis, racial contentions, the national debt, and fiscal negligence, as well s the problem at our southern border with illegal immigration).
As a world traveler, who has visited many countries in Europe, Africa, Asia, and North America and the West Indies, I have yet to visit one that offers its citizens the benefits, rights, and opportunities as the good ‘ole U.S.A.
One of my continual reasons for giving thanks to God is because He ordained that I would be born in America.
That I Am a True Believer in Jesus Christ
The final thing that I along with thousands or perhaps millions of Americans should be thankful of during this Thanksgiving season and year-round daily is that we are saved, forgiven of our sins, and will live eternally with God. Nothing else is as remotely important as that.
The fact that God gave His Only Begotten Son to suffer unimaginable humiliation and to be crucified like a criminal on a cross for the sins of the entire human race (past, present, and future) is beyond my finite ability to understand.
Nevertheless, what my mind cannot began to comprehend, my heart will continually be thankful, and my knees will daily bend to worship and give thanks to God.
