Thanksgiving
-Introduction
-I have always looked forward to the Thanksgiving holiday.
-For my family, it was the biggest holiday of the year - the one time of the year
that family from Iowa would travel down to Joplin.
-We would gather together at Grandma and Grandpa’s house on Thursday, Friday
and Saturday.
-We would have a feast - 2 Turkeys, ham, potatoes, stuffing, sweet potatoes, rolls,
homemade noodles, turnips, an assortment of other vegetables and salads, etc.
-My mom would make two red-velvet cakes and four pumpkin pies. Grandma
would make her special apple pies amongst others (14 pies a year or two ago).
The rest of the family would bring their goodies as well.
-There would be about 30 of us at times and we would tackle the food. By Friday
night, it was mostly gone and we were then eating soups and chili’s one night and
pizza the next.
-When I reflect upon our Thanksgiving holidays, I think - “We sure are spoiled.”
-We have so much to be thankful for!
-Example of Daniel
-Growing up as a child, one of my favorite Biblical characters was Daniel.
-one of my favorite stories - Daniel and the Lions’ Den
-Daniel was a great man of faith.
-Daniel 1:1-6 - Daniel was a part of the first group taken into captivity.
-So, here is Daniel in amidst difficult circumstances.
-He is being treated well. But, he has been taken from his homeland and his family
by the enemy. He is their captive.
-Daniel 6:1-10
-By the time we get to the 6th chapter, we find that Daniel and earned the favor of
the Babylonian king.
-He has been designated as one of three presidents and is now favored amongst them.
-The others were jealous of Daniel and plotted against him.
-vs 4-5 - great insight into the character of Daniel
-His faith was being used against him, but he remained stedfast.
-vs 10 - Daniel knew that the writing had been signed. Yet, he openly prayed to God.
-Try to put yourself in that position. What would your prayer have been like?
-Would it have been a prayer of thanksgiving? - a prayer including thanksgiving?
-I can’t give you the details of Daniel’s prayer. Yet, we are told that he “...prayed
and gave thanks before his God.”
-Daniel, a great man of faith, understood the importance of expressing thanks to God!
-Importance of Thankfulness
-Rom 1:21
-God had revealed Himself to the patriarchs and had given them His instructions - the
Patriarchal Law.
-From those patriarchs, the Jews and Gentiles developed.
-So, when the Gentiles eventually did not know God nor His laws for them,
it wasn’t due to any shortcoming on God’s side, but man’s.
-Notice, though, even when they did know God, they failed to glorify Him and failed
to be thankful.
-In the list of sins that the latter half of Romans 1 contains, a lack of thanks is listed
early.
-“We thank God for the benefits received; and the feeling which prompts the act is
gratitude. As the debt we owe to him, on this score, is great, the feeling should be
active and profound. A failure here is indicative of the deepest debasement. The
people in whom this feeling has become extinct have reached the lowest degree of
spiritual degeneracy. No sin is more inexcusable. Such was the depth to which
the Gentiles had gone down”(Moses Lard, pg 54).
-“It is a frightening and sober thought that all of the carnal debaucheries and gross
vulgar conduct revealed a little later in this chapter, as marking the wickedness of
those ancient Gentiles should have begun with so mild and apparently innocuous
thing as neglect of worship and failure to give thanks to God. What a powerful
warning this speaks to countless Christians of the present generation who regard
neglect of giving thanks as a very casual and minor omission of duty. All men
should take this to heart; because forsaking worship or neglecting the giving of
thanks might be compared to the pebble cast loose from the top of a mountain that
becomes a roaring avalanche to crush a city or a civilization beneath it” (Coffman,
pg 40).
-When considering this passage and these corresponding remarks, we see that
thanksgiving isn’t merely a “side issue.” Rather, it is a foundational item that works
toward the strengthening of faith when present and the weakening of faith when absent.
-Summary and Invitation
-With these things having been said, let’s consider a few passages:
-Col 3:15, Ps 116:17
-Eph 5:19-20
-“The giving of thanks seems to be a part of the service performed in singing.
Thanksgiving for all blessings, temporal and spiritual, at all times, and in all places
is proper from man to His Creator from whom he receives life, health, and all
blessings. We need to sing the praises of God, to give thanks unto his name, not
only that we may please God and benefit the people, but we need most of all the
influence of it upon our own heart” (Lipscomb, pg 109).
-Example of a “spoiled” child - doesn’t appreciate what he has, doesn’t take care of those
things, takes them for granted, not thankful for them
-As Christians, we are God’s children (Gal 3:26-27). Let’s not be “spoiled” children.
-Let’s make sure we take the time to consider all that we have been blessed with. Let’s
appreciate these things - temporal and spiritual - and let’s be thankful for them. Let’s
allow that to dwell in our hearts and minds and help to motivate us to view God in a
proper manner, respect and reverence Him and respond appropriately.
-What about you? Have you responded to God? Have you obeyed the Gospel? If not,
believe in Christ (John 3:16, 8:24), Confess your faith (Matt 10:32, Rom 10:9-10),
Repent of your sins (Luke 13:3,5; Acts 17:30), Be Baptized (Mark 16:16, Gal 3:26-29)
-If you’ve previously obeyed the Gospel, have you been thankful and faithful? If not,
confess your shortcomings, repent of them and pray for God’s forgiveness (1 Jn 1:7-9,
Acts 8:22-24).