Thanksgiving, we all know, is a time when family and friends get together to celebrate, eat turkey, watch football games, and have a general good time. That’s what a traditional Thanksgiving Day looks like around America.

Thanksgiving, the giving of thanks to God is not an American idea. It has been around for centuries, long before the pilgrims arrived in the new world. In fact, we know that in the days of Cain and Abel, that Abel offered thanksgiving offerings to God. His brother Cain did the same, but did not offer his best to God. So the idea of giving thanks to God, goes back a long ways.

The psalmist in Psalm 100 gives us good counsel when he says we should shout for joy to the Lord.
“Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness: come before Him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, the sheep of His pasture.
E nter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name. For the Lord is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations.”
Psalm 100 ( NIV)

Why shout? Why not whisper it, or say it under our breath? Let’s say hypothetically that your best friend came to your house driving a brand new car. He handed you the keys and said to you, ‘it’s yours’. What would you do? How would you react? Would you say in a monotone whisper –“thanks.” No, of course not, you would shout for joy!! Possibly scream, yell, jump up and down and all around. You’d be extremely joyful, hardly able to control your emotions. I’m generally speaking; most people would react that way. I suppose there are a small percentage of people that would be whisper with little or no emotion. For the most part, a person’s reaction would be one of overwhelming thanks.

People, God has given you multiple gifts that are far more valuable and precious and everlasting than a new car! His gifts are without comparison and incomprehensible in extent. The gift of His Son, the free gift of salvation, the gift of talents and characteristics, the gift of his Word, the gift of grace, mercy and compassion, just name a few. The list can continue for many more pages, but I will stop here.
How are you reacting to these free gifts of God? First of all, are you accepting these gifts? If you have accepted these gifts, then how have you thanked God? Have you shouted for joy? Are you worshipping the Lord with gladness and coming before Him with joyful songs, as indicated in the Psalm? If the answer is ‘no’, why not?

Giving thanks to our God, with overwhelming joy is an aspect of worship. In fact, it is a tremendous method of worship, as it is heartfelt, emotional and sincere. I believe God gave us an ability to shout for joy, with full emotion so He can hear it from us. Shout to Him, sing joyful songs! Give emotional praise to God! He is so wonderful, so extremely gracious and kind to all of us! Over the past ten minutes that you have read this article, you inhaled and exhaled, your heart pumped blood and your organs and systems worked in harmony to sustain life in your body. Do we take that process for granted? Yes we do, and yes I have been guilty of that myself. However, stop and think for a few seconds. Is that not a wonderful gift, worthy of your overwhelming awe of the God that is making that possible? That is some gift! It is a free gift that is being given to you right now, only by the grace of God is it allowed to happen. Yes, God is incredibly kind to us!

‘Wait a minute. God – be kind to me? You obviously don’t know my situation’. I don’t have to know, God knows your situation. He is in control of everything, even the bad things are under His control, just as they were in the case of Job.

Look at verse five in Psalm 100. “For the Lord is good and His love endures forever”. For the non-believer, this phrase does not compute, and never will as long as they live life without God. However, for the believer, comprehension of this phrase is not in the equation, but faith is the catalyst that holds one to the truth! The natural by-product of this faith and the faithfulness of God that continues throughout all generations; is a gut-retching shout for joy in thanksgiving to God!

Thanksgiving Day is everyday, not just November 24, as everyday God extends his free gifts to all who will take them. Shout for joy to God for all He has given and continues to give to you! Don’t wait until the family gathers around the turkey to honor God by your joyful and emotional shouts of thanksgiving.

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All Rights Reserved.

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