Thanksgiving

Jeremy Northrop

            As each is well aware, the beginning of the holiday season is here. This week, many will be traveling to spend time with their families and friends. Many have already begun their travels. While it is true that this holiday holds special historical significance in the culture of the United States, and it is equally true that no holiday in this age has any biblical foundation, the concept of giving thanks is very, very biblical in nature.

            The phrase ‘giving thanks’ appears five times in the Bible. The word ‘thanks’ appears over 50 times in the Bible. Many of the occurrences are in the Psalms and used in reference to giving thanks to God above.

            Christians have much for which to be thankful. First, Christians can be thankful to God for the salvation that He gives to them. As Paul said, “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1Corinthians 15:57) or “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” (2Corinthians 9:15). Several times the Psalmist would declare thanks to God. A few of them are:

Sing praise to the Lord, You saints of His, And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name (Psalm 30:4).

I will give You thanks in the great assembly; I will praise You among many people (Psalm 35:18).

Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous, And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name (Psalm 97:12).

Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever (Psalm 107:1).

Certainly, Christians should be thankful to God for the gift of His Son, the blessing of salvation.

            Thankfulness is also a necessary quality for successful relationships among mankind. Several studies throughout the years have been done on successful families. People are in search of the qualities of successful families. One of the essential qualities is thankfulness. What is interesting about this is that being a thankful person does not require large sums of money or intense skill. It simply requires a heart of gratitude. It does not take money for a husband to express thanks to his wife for the everyday things that she does which make his life easier. It does not require immense skill for the mother to express to her child how much she appreciates him. A habitual attitude of expressing thanks will help make families work better.

            The concept of thanks is also important when one thinks of the spiritual relationships that Christians have. The words of Paul went like this: “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you” (Philippians 1:3). Often times, Paul would begin his epistles with words of gratitude both to God and to those to whom he was writing. Truly, Christians have a great blessing in each other.

            Finally, a very interesting use of the word ‘thanks’ in the Bible is a place where the prefix ‘un’ is used with it. In 2Timothy 3:1-5, Paul speaks of the last days and says the following:

But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!

Right in the midst of those who are proud, those who blaspheme, those who are unholy and unloving, are those who are unthankful. The emphasis is that it is indeed a sin to be unthankful.