It is impossible to consider Thanksgiving without considering the coming “mother of all Thanksgivings” - that day when those from every nation and every tribe and every people and every language - and even angels and the four living creatures, give thanks to the God of heaven.
“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say this— those he redeemed from the hand of the foe, those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south.” - Ps 107:1-3
That day will be a day of much thanksgiving - for we will be in glory, forever with Christ and reunited with those who have gone before us (who we miss during holidays like Thanksgiving!)
But even here we have so very much to be thankful for - I imagine that just about everyone reading this is well able to enjoy thanksgiving with much in the way of food and drink. Fact is, most of us will have leftovers, and some will eat Turkey sandwiches for a week or more after!
“Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men, for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.” (v8-9)
Holidays are a wonderful time to catch up and fill up. But holidays like thanksgiving give us more than just a good time. They give us opportunity to testify to gathered family and friends of God’s inherent character - His grace and goodness to us, His love for them and His wonderful plan of salvation for all!
“Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men. Let them exalt him in the assembly of the people and praise him in the council of the elders.” (v31-32)
That might be a bit scary if you’ve never done it before. Especially if you have people from other cultures around your table - and it’s just so easy to talk about pretty much everything else.
But isn’t that (giving Him praise before others) really just living out the ultimate Thanksgiving? Isn’t it our spiritual character - our redeemed nature - to testify to all He has done for us, such that others might join us in praising Him? For some, that’s the ‘usual’. Maybe this Thanksgiving - and for you - it will be an adventure!
Psalm 107 ends with, “Whoever is wise, let him heed these things and consider the great love of the Lord.” (v43). Amen
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