Thankfulness

Colossians 1:9-17

Thanks, Thankful, I Thank, is used 54 + or - times in the NT..........Mostly used in either being thankful for the gift of grace or being thankful for someone or something that has helped them in the mission of declaring the Gospel!

Thanksgiving Day is a national holiday in the United States starting in 1789. In 2022, Thanksgiving in the US will be on Thursday, November 24th. For Canada, in 1957, the Canadian Parliament proclaimed Thanksgiving the second Monday in October, or Columbus Day for the United States.

In the United States, Thanksgiving is historically a day to praise and give thanks to God for our blessings and ask Him to heal the nation's wounds. It was also a national day of penitence to humbly repent for our sinfulness and selfishness.

Thanksgiving became a national holiday in 1863. During the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving:

As a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and Union.

Some historians link the pilgrims' Thanksgiving celebration to the holiday of Sukkot, also called the Feast of Tabernacles in Leviticus 23:33-34 “And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the Lord.” Other scholars point out the Puritans' debate of having a fixed date to give thanks; instead, they would proclaim special days of prayer. While the link between Thanksgiving and Sukkot is uncertain, there is no doubt that God calls his people to give thanks.

In the Bible, thanksgiving means devotion, sacrifice, praise, or an offering. Thanksgiving is to glorify God as an act of worship, giving thanks for all things as part of God's providence. Allabouthistory.org gives a beautiful definition of thanksgiving as primarily about relationships:

The true meaning of Thanksgiving focuses upon relationship. Thanksgiving is a relationship between God and man. Upon their arrival at New Plymouth, the Pilgrims composed The Mayflower Compact, which honored God. Thanksgiving begins with acknowledging God as faithful, earnestly giving Him thanks, in advance, for His abundant blessings.

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

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

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. (Philippians 4:6)

I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High. (Psalm 7:17)

Let’s move on to Colossians 1:9-17......

The third characteristic of those who walk in the will of God is joyful thanksgiving!!! The text describes this as heartfelt, genuine thankfulness that grows out of the experience of salvation. Christians should never forget what God has done for them, and they should allow that life-changing experience to bring them daily joy

God is to be thanked because he qualified believers for an inheritance (1:12); he rescued believers from darkness (1:13a); and he brought believers into the Son’s kingdom (1:13b). Thus, those who walk in the will of God are conscious of their salvation. They continually thank God for it.

Thanks, Thankful, I Thank, is used 54 + or - times in the NT..........Mostly used in either being thankful for the gift of grace or being thankful for someone or something that has helped them in the mission of declaring the Gospel!

2 Corinthians 8:9 “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.”

It is impossible for anyone to think of Jesus having become poor for his sake, and not at the same time to be moved to despise all for the love of him.

1 Timothy 1:15-17 “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting. Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.”

Thankful for the help in living and declaring the Gospel.......Philippians 1:3-5 “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now;”