In my extended family, we do our best to gather together for a meal in November each year on the special American holiday of Thanksgiving. As we sit around the table in a home or in a restaurant, one tradition we uphold is to have each person at the table say at least one thing they are thankful to God for. It is heartwarming and enlightening to hear what is on each family member’s heart, from the youngest to the oldest. This full sharing, based on the abundance of thankfulness in our hearts, makes the time together very sweet. It always inspires me to keep this attitude of thankfulness every day. Thanksgiving does not need to be just an event that we celebrate once a year; it can be a way of life. We can give thanks to God daily.
Giving thanks to God was part of the daily public worship in Judah during the times of Old Testament kings. When David was king, he appointed priests to give thanks and praise to God daily, and not just once a day, but morning and evening.
I Chronicles 16:4:
And he appointed certain of the Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord, and to record, and to thank and praise the Lord God of Israel.
I Chronicles 23:30:
And to stand every morning to thank and praise the Lord, and likewise at even.
A later king, Hezekiah, had cause to reinstate this practice, as recorded in II Chronicles.
II Chronicles 31:2:
And Hezekiah appointed the courses of the priests and the Levites…to minister, and to give thanks, and to praise in the gates of the tents of the Lord.
These kings, David and Hezekiah, were wonderful spokesmen for God who recognized the importance of being thankful for what they had received from Him. Thanksgiving was a daily part of life for them.
Just as the Old Testament believers gave thanks to God daily, so can we today in the Grace Administration.
Lamentations 3:22,23:
It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
This truth has not changed. God’s compassions are new, or fresh, every morning, every day; so logically we want to render our thanks to Him every day.
I Thessalonians 5:18:
In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
In each situation, there is something for which we can give thanks. We can be thankful to God for the breath of life we have each morning when we wake up; we can be thankful to God before we eat; we can be thankful to God when we read the Bible, because it is His Word; we can be thankful when we spend time with fellow Christians, because God has placed us in a wonderful household. There are so many things in our daily life we can be thankful for because God is the Source of all the benefits of life.
Ephesians 5:20:
Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 13:15:
By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.
Colossians 4:2:
Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving.
We do not have to wait until November rolls around to tell God how thankful we are for Him, for His Word, for His household. When can we give thanks? We can give thanks always, continually, and in everything. Like the believers in the Old Testament, we can give thanks morning and evening. Thanksgiving is a believer’s way of life—we can give thanks to God every day!