Being Thankful Everyday

Here in the US we have so much to be thankful for. Not just one day a year, but every day of the year. And no matter what is going on in the world outside of our window, we know and thank Him at the end of the day, God still sits on His throne and still He reigns.

I found a post that really hits home and I want to share it with you. So please read on:

3 Benefits Of Thanksgiving Every Day

by Jen Thorn

Thanksgiving shouldn’t only happen one time or even one season of the year. We can have an attitude of thanksgiving every day.

It’s that time of year again, here in the United States. Turkeys are bought and stuffed, sweet potatoes are made even sweeter with marshmallows, and homes are decorated with pilgrims, straw, and turkeys (unless you’re like my family–we skip straight to decorating for Christmas).

On Thanksgiving Day family and friends gather together to share a great meal and to reflect on all the things they are supposed to be thankful for.

For many, it involves fun family traditions, like standing in a circle and making everyone say one thing that they are thankful for or having kids write on a giant sheet something they are grateful for.

While having a day set aside for giving thanks is great, Paul takes it a big step farther and tells us that we are supposed to be thankful always, every day! (1 Thess. 5:18, Eph. 5:20)  And so, throughout the year we make thanksgiving trees and use gratefulness journals. But why, as a Christian, is this important?

I would like to propose 3 reasons why we are to be thankful

1. Thanksgiving causes us to go deep

It is easy to list big things in our lives that we appreciate. Family, a home, food, a car, a job, health, etc. But at some point, we will run out of those big items and we have to dig a bit deeper for things that we are thankful for. When we do this we begin to see God’s gracious work in our lives.

We begin to see that he woke us this morning and gives us every breath we take, that he made the sun shine today or brought the rain and wind. We begin to look around and see that we can be thankful for the soap we have to wash our hands with and the broom that cleans up crumbs.

But when we dig even deeper we will go beyond the material into things that are even more important. Like the impromptu kiss we received from our child or the encouraging text we got from our friend.

Deeper still, is the thanks we give for the redemption we have in Jesus Christ: the forgiveness of sins, the righteousness of our Savior, peace with God, and eternal life.

2. Thanksgiving keeps us from taking things for granted

The deeper we dig the more we realize that every good thing in our lives truly is a gift from God, like the red Tea kennel that sits on my stove and adds a splash of color to my kitchen (James 1: 17). And the more thankful we are the less likely we are to take these gifts for granted.

If you are truly thankful for something you will treat it well. This means that we will treat the people that God places in our lives and those material gifts with respect and gratitude. True thankfulness will cause us to take care of our possessions and to treat them with care. (This is especially important for kids to learn).

A grateful heart will take care with the time that we have been given. When we waste time we not only take it for granted, but we also expect God to give us more. If we are actually thankful for the time that God gives us each day we will use it wisely.

3. Thankfulness Changes our perspective

Thanksgiving helps us to better see our generous and gracious God. It shows us that while we don’t deserve God’s goodness, he showers us with it anyway. He often lavishes on us more than we need and more than we ask.

But thanksgiving is especially important during hard times. It helps us remember that God has not forgotten us. A thankful heart remembers all that God has done for us in good times and comforts us with the knowledge that He continues to be faithful, generous, and good in hard times. For even if we lose all our possessions he remains with us and for us. The world may forsake us, but God never will.

Thanksgiving is not a holiday, but a holy disposition that stems from our faith in Christ that has received him as God’s greatest gift.

I hope that we all enjoy a wonderful Thanksgiving Day this year, but that our thanksgiving continues every day and leads us closer to our good God.   

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
    for his steadfast love endures forever!
Psalm 107:1

Blessings,
Jen Thorn

💗💗💗

Thanks for spending a few minutes with me today.

God bless you today and everyday!

bbbb

When living in Budapest, we always celebrated Thanksgiving with international friends. It was fun to explain the holiday’s Christian foundation and assure folks it was the one holiday in America that hadn’t been commercialized.

u

But what is Thanksgiving to God? How do you say thanks to God? I mean, He is just so amazing that a simple “thank you” doesn’t seem like enough!

Even though we live in a society of abundance, we have a tendency to focus on what hasn’t gone well and complain about it instead of the things that did go well and feel grateful. Because of this, it seems wise that a special day for Thanksgiving was designated in the United States, a tradition since the 18th century that started as a harvest festival.

But the Biblical importance of giving thanks goes way back. The Bible has a lot to say about how to give thanks God both – when all is well and when all is not so well.

When living in Budapest, we always celebrated Thanksgiving with international friends. It was fun to explain the holiday’s Christian foundation and assure folks it was the one holiday in America that hadn’t been commercialized. 

It's not that I hadn't heard of Black Friday when we lived in Budapest, but it wasn't the major event it is today. Unfortunately, Black Friday now threatens to gobble up Thanksgiving.

Why did a day to commemorate Christian saints (All Saints' Day) become costumes, witches and candy? 

Why did Easter become bunnies and egg hunts? 

Why did Christ’s birth become Santa's day?

Sometimes we forget that we have an enemy whose entire goal is to steal glory and attention from Christ (John 10:10).

Let's not help him.

Let’s take back the territory Satan has taken from us, starting today! 

May Christ reign in our Thanksgiving celebrations. 

With grateful hearts, let’s focus on the Giver of all good things! (James 1:17)
--------------------
How do you incorporate the true meaning of Thanksgiving into your celebration? Why not leave your ideas in a comment. Thanks!

Here are a few of my ideas:
We start our meal with 5 kernels of corn on every plate and share the true story found HERE. 
We paint a Thanksgiving pumpkin - more HERE.

We encourage children or grandchildren to write a list of things for which they're thankful and save those lists to re-read each year. How to Enter His Gates with Thanksgiving

When living in Budapest, we always celebrated Thanksgiving with international friends. It was fun to explain the holiday’s Christian foundation and assure folks it was the one holiday in America that hadn’t been commercialized. 

It's not that I hadn't heard of Black Friday when we lived in Budapest, but it wasn't the major event it is today. Unfortunately, Black Friday now threatens to gobble up Thanksgiving.

Why did a day to commemorate Christian saints (All Saints' Day) become costumes, witches and candy? 

Why did Easter become bunnies and egg hunts? 

Why did Christ’s birth become Santa's day?

Sometimes we forget that we have an enemy whose entire goal is to steal glory and attention from Christ (John 10:10).
When living in Budapest, we always celebrated Thanksgiving with international friends. It was fun to explain the holiday’s Christian foundation and assure folks it was the one holiday in America that hadn’t been commercialized. 

It's not that I hadn't heard of Black Friday when we lived in Budapest, but it wasn't the major event it is today. Unfortunately, Black Friday now threatens to gobble up Thanksgiving.

Why did a day to commemorate Christian saints (All Saints' Day) become costumes, witches and candy? 

Why did Easter become bunnies and egg hunts? 

Why did Christ’s birth become Santa's day?

Sometimes we forget that we have an enemy whose entire goal is to steal glory and attention from Christ (John 10:10).

Let's Take Back Thanksgiving!!