The Bible stated in Psalm 92:1 “It is a GOOD THING to give thanks unto the Lord…” So, first and foremost, Thanksgiving is a “good thing!”

Below is an excerpt about the history of American Thanksgiving from the History channel website:

“Thanksgiving Day is a national holiday in the United States, and Thanksgiving 2021 occurs on Thursday, November 25. In 1621, the Plymouth colonists and the Wampanoag shared an autumn harvest feast that is acknowledged today as one of the first Thanksgiving celebrations in the colonies. For more than two centuries, days of thanksgiving were celebrated by individual colonies and states. It wasn’t until 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, that President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day to be held each November”. 

Here is a biblical perspective of Thanksgiving:

1. Thanksgiving Is Good

Psalm 92: “It is a GOOD THING to give thanks unto the Lord…” So, first and foremost, Thanksgiving is a “good thing!” it’s good to tell someone “happy thanksgiving”, Its good to wish your mum or dad and all your loved ones a happy thanksgiving in this season of thanksgiving. Don’t allow the pressures of life, the disappointments and the pains to turn you into a grouch. Refuse to be an Ingrate.

As I earlier stated, Thanksgiving is a good thing! It’s a means of acknowledging that God is good, that the Lord is good all the time. You need to train yourself to see Thanksgiving as a good thing otherwise you would always be gloomy and pessimistic. How you view Thanksgiving ultimately affects your attitude about giving thanks, you need to you need to see Thanksgiving as a good thing.

2. Thanksgiving Must Accompany Your Prayers

The Bible states in Phil 4:6 “Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”

A happy Thanksgiving attitude is portrayed here as an integral tool of prayer, and not just a form of appreciation given to a benefactor when one has received gift or blessing from the benefactor. Rather, all your prayer requests are to be accompanied with thanksgiving even before you see or receive the answer to your petition.

3. Thanksgiving Is The Entry Protocol Into God’s Holy Presence & Throne Of Grace:

The Bible states in Psalm 100:4 “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.”

The presence of God is full of joy and His throne is filled with praise; complaints cannot dwell in the presence of God. You need a happy thanksgiving attitude in order to enter and dwell in God’s holy presence

4. Thanksgiving Is God’s Will For You.

1Thessalonica 5:18 “In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”

There is nothing more powerful than to realize that having and maintaining a happy thanksgiving attitude in everything is God’s will for your life. There it is stated in black and white. The will of God for your life is for you to be thankful in all things, to give thanks in everything.

5. God Expects To Be Thanked.

Luke 17:17-18 “And Jesus answering said, were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?

There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.

The story of the ten lepers that were healed further underscore the above point that God expects to be thanked. Not so much because He needs it but because of the wholeness it brings to our lives when we cultivate the happy thanksgiving attitude of gratitude.

6. The opposite of Thanksgiving is Complaining/Murmuring.

There is so much negativity and many people are ungrateful and thankless in their attitudes. The Bible tells of a whole nation that murmured against God and the leader God gave them. A people that would rather complain than have a happy thanksgiving and rejoice. The nation of Israel murmured against Moses and against God. They complained so much that God had to allow that whole generation to die off in the wilderness, not a single one of them made it to the promised land except Caleb and Joshua who were of a different spirit. There was no happy thanksgiving attitude amongst the complaining bunch.  Let us examine some of the things the people said in their complaint:

EXODUS 14: 10-12: “When the Israelites saw the king and his army marching against them, they were terrified and cried out to the LORD for help. They said to Moses, “Weren’t there any graves in Egypt? Did you have to bring us out here in the desert to die? Look what you have done by bringing us out of Egypt! Didn’t we tell you before we left that this would happen? We told you to leave us alone and let us go on being slaves of the Egyptians. It would be better to be slaves there than to die here in the desert.” 

Exodus 15: 22-24: “Then Moses led the people of Israel away from the Red Sea into the desert of Shur. For three days they walked through the desert, but found no water. Then they came to a place called Marah, but the water there was so bitter that they could not drink it. That is why it was named Marah. The people complained to Moses and asked, “What are we going to drink?” 

Exodus 16: 1-3: “The whole Israelite community set out from Elim, and on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had left Egypt, they came to the desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai.  There in the desert they all complained to Moses and Aaron and said to them, “We wish that the LORD had killed us in Egypt. There we could at least sit down and eat meat and as much other food as we wanted. But you have brought us out into this desert to starve us all to death.” 

Exodus 17:1-3: “The whole Israelite community left the desert of Sin, moving from one place to another at the command of the LORD. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water there to drink. They complained to Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses answered, “Why are you complaining? Why are you putting the LORD to the test?” But the people were very thirsty and continued to complain to Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt? To kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” 

The immediate scriptures above showed a nation of complainers, ungrateful lots, who at the slightest inconvenience forgets about the past miracles of God in their lives and perpetuate an evil heart of unbelief. So, in a sense also, the inability to cultivate a happy thanksgiving attitude is directly connected to being full of unbelief towards God and His faithfulness.If you have been blessed by this post. You will enjoy my eBook titled The Cure for Unbelief you can click the image or the title to go get a free copy.

Happy Thanksgiving from my family to you and all yours!