I love Thanksgiving! I love sleeping in on a Thursday! I love getting up in the morning with the knowledge that it’s a holiday, and no one will be going to work in the family. We’ll have a lazy morning with a donut and coffee as we smell the turkey baking in the oven! We’ll watch some early football games and then enjoy a wonderful turkey feast. The kids will bring their families over, and we’ll celebrate this day together. I get to eat cranberry sauce. It’s the only day of the year when I have that. I think it’s traditional. But why is it that we only have it on Thanksgiving day? We don’t have it any other time. It’s almost like a law! I wonder if that’s like “Thanksgiving” as a whole. We go without being thankful all year except for one day a year. Is it only on Thanksgiving day at the end of November that we give thanks and eat cranberry sauce? I think it should be the other way around. We should give thanks every day of the year except for one day. That’s the day we set aside time to grumble and complain about everything. When that day is over, we go back to being thankful.
I think that would make for a happier life. Bob Morgan says, “Few things can change a person’s life more dramatically than developing an attitude of gratitude. Your attitude does indeed affect your altitude. It affects how far you will go in life and how much you will enjoy the journey. An attitude of gratitude is a biblical principle. There are 138 verses in the Bible dealing with ‘thanksgiving’ alone. Many more talk about rejoicing, happiness, and joy.”[1] Many of these verses are in the Psalms. In Psalm 92:1-2 the Psalmist writes, “It is good to give thanks to the Lord, and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; to declare Your lovingkindness in the morning, and Your faithfulness every night.” Joy is often accompanied by thankfulness. That’s what Paul meant when he told the Colossians in 3:15-17. He said, “And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Then Paul tells the Thessalonians a thankful spirit is what they should have “all” the time. 2 Thessalonians 1:3 tells us, “We ought always to give thanks to God…”
An attitude of Gratitude “moves the heart of God.” We sometimes forget that God has feelings, too. The scriptures show us that God is hurt, angry, grieved, jealous, etc. When I sent my Mother a 25th wedding anniversary gift, along with a letter thanking her for being my Mom, she was moved. My Dad said she showed that $1.98 plate to everyone at their party. Although she had a huge collection of Hummel plates, some worth nearly $1,000.00, she showed them my little saucer from Gibraltar that said, “Gibraltar, Gateway to the Mediterranean.” She bragged about it as if it were the most valuable plate she had. I remember also that she even mentioned that plate to me 20 years later on her deathbed. I had no idea that such a simple gesture of gratitude would move the heart of someone!
[1] Morgan, Robert J. 2004. Nelson’s Annual Preacher’s Sourcebook. 2004 Edition. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers.