Thoughts on Thankfulness
The Thanksgiving Holiday is upon us. For many, including my own family, that involves traveling to relatives’ houses, eating delicious food, watching football, visiting with those you may not often see much of during the year.
There’s nothing wrong with this – spending time with family is one of the most important things in my life.
But lately, I’ve been pondering the word “thankful.”
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines it as:
1. conscious of benefit received
For what we are about to receive make us truly thankful
2. expressive of thanks
Thankful service
3. well pleased: GLAD
I was thankful that it didn’t rain
In Strong’s, the Greek word is eucharistos: thankful, grateful, and is used to describe a “state of being thankful or grateful. It conveys an attitude of appreciation and acknowledgment of goodness or favor received. In the New Testament, it is often associated with a heart posture of gratitude towards God for His grace and blessings.”
The world teaches us to want “stuff” and that those material will give us joy. The world wants us to find our worth and be thankful in all that “stuff.” Our sinful natures want us to fill our lives with so much “stuff” that we become blinded to what’s important, what we should really be thankful for.
Scripture, however, tells us to be “thankful in everything, in all circumstances” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). The bible is full of verses that encourage us to be thankful. Below is a list of the “top” Thanksgiving Bible Verses. As you sit down with your families and friends this week, I encourage you to share these verses and talk about what they mean to you. To share what you’re truly thankful for.
For me, I’m thankful that we have a God that loves us so very much that He gave his son Jesus to us! A God who promises to never leave us, a Lord that gave us the free gift of salvation and eternal life! A Heavenly Father who blesses us daily and has a purpose for each of us.
This week, may the Lord teach us to offer him a heart of thanksgiving and praise in all our daily lives. May we pray continually and give thanks in all our circumstances.
● Psalm 107:1: "Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!"
● Psalm 7:17: "I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High."
● 1 Thessalonians 5:18: "Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you"
● Philippians 4:6: "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God."
● Colossians 3:15: "And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful."
● Colossians 4:2: Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.
● Psalm 28:7: The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.
● Hebrews 13:15: Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.
● Psalm 69:30: I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving.
● 1 Chronicles 16:34: Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!
● James 1:17: Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.