Happy Thanksgiving!: The Right Attitude

Now, our God, we give You thanks, and praise Your glorious name. — 1 Chronicles 29:13

The Pilgrim Fathers who landed at Plymouth to settle in what became the United States of America can teach us an important lesson about giving thanks.

During that first long winter, seven times as many graves were made for the dead as homes were made for the living. Seed, imported from England, failed to grow, and a ship that was to bring food and relief, brought instead thirty-five more mouths to feed, but no provisions. Some Pilgrims caught fish, and others hunted wild fowl and deer. They had a little English flour and some Indian corn.

Yet William Brewster, rising from a scanty dinner of clams and water, gave thanks to God “for the abundance of the sea and the treasure hid in the sand.”

According to today’s standards, the Pilgrims had almost nothing, but they possessed a profound and heartfelt gratitude to God for His love and mercy. Gratitude is one of the greatest Christian virtues; ingratitude, one of the most vicious sins.

• Our English words thank and think come from the same word.

If we’ll stop to think, we’ll be more thankful.

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Give Thanks!

Enter [God’s] gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name. — Psalm 100:4

Throughout the Bible we are commanded to be thankful. A spirit of thanksgiving is one of the most distinctive marks of a Christian whose heart is attuned to the Lord.

First, we are to be thankful for the material blessings God gives us. Some people are never satisfied with what they have, but what a difference it makes when we realize that everything we have has been given to us by God!

Second, thank God for the people in your life. It is so easy to take them for granted, or to complain or become angry because they don’t meet our every wish. But we need to give thanks for our spouse, our children, our relatives, and our friends. Most of all, thank God for Christ and His love for you.

Third, thank God in the midst of trials and ever persecution. We draw back from difficulties, but not one of us is exempt from trouble. Yet in the midst of trials we can thank God because we know He has promised to be with us and help us.

For the Christian, every day is Thanksgiving Day!

Excerpted with permission from Wisdom for Each Day by Billy Graham, copyright Billy Graham Literary Trust.

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Your Turn

HAPPY THANKSGIVING from all of us at Devotionals Daily and FaithGateway! We are grateful for you! What are you thankful for today? We would love to hear from you! ~ Devotionals Daily