How Important is Thanksgiving?
A recent poll showed that only two percent of Americans list Thanksgiving as their favorite holiday. That’s both revealing and alarming. I think there are some reasons for that.
One reason Thanksgiving is not so popular is that we have so much to be thankful for in this day and age, yet we fail to recognize who is responsible for what we have today. We tend to think we have done all of this by ourselves. We feel like we have achieved individual successes and why should we thank God or other people for them.
The root of sin is pride. The middle letter of sin is “I”; the middle letter of pride is “I.” We live in an age where everybody has a sense that we have become educated enough and worked hard enough to earn what we have.
There is an old phrase I heard as a young boy which said, “We need to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps.” That was used as motivation. The fact is that we don’t have any bootstraps, and we don’t even have any boots without God’s blessings in providing them for us.
One thing Paul discovered was that his strength came when he realized how weak he was in the things he couldn’t accomplish. He wrote to the Corinthian church, “When I am weak, then am I strong.” (II Corinthians 12:10) We like to picture ourselves as being strong and capable of handling anything. That’s one of the biggest lies that Satan uses.
Thanksgiving is a response to how good God has been. A sinful response is to communicate to God and the world that we are self-made men and women. That arrogance is repulsive to God and to people. A self-made man is a good argument against the do-it-yourself system!
Thanksgiving is a response of gratitude to the love and mercy and goodness of God. When we see how good God has been to us, it creates a spirit of Thanksgiving. Paul wrote, “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with Thanksgiving.” (Colossians 3:6-7)
A thankful spirit contributes to our growth in life. An arrogant and prideful spirit is like taking a poison that tastes pretty good, but will ultimately be our demise. A life that is lived as a practice of Thanksgiving is receiving some of the most important nutrients to grow in the Christian faith.
Let me warn you that a lack of gratitude turns into an abundance of grumbling, and grumbling people are not pleasant to be around. My dad used to say, “Some people cause happiness wherever they go—others whenever they go.” A life of gratitude is contagious—a life of grumbling is something people avoid.
So, ask God to help you make this Thanksgiving Day a meaningful day of genuine celebration. Thanksgiving Day isn’t just a day on the calendar—It’s a way of life. Giving thanks isn’t something we do once a year, but something we ought to do with every breath we breathe.
The Psalmist David said, “Give thanks to God and praise His name for God is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and His faithfulness continues to every generation.” (Psalm 100:4-5)
Where does Thanksgiving rate on your personal scale of importance?
