Thanksgiving Living

Thanksgiving Living

We are not only in our season of thanksgiving, for many of us the feasts of thanksgiving are beginning.

Feast—When I say that word I remember a family in British Colombia that used to say they were going to feast on roast beast if there was a beef roast in the oven.

Feasts are community events that recognize God’s work and presence with His people.

Feasts happened weekly on Sabbaths, monthly on new moons (which marked the beginning of each 28-day month in Israel), every 7th year, and supposedly every 50th year, the year of Jubilee, which we find no record of ever having been observed—what with freeing slaves, forgiving debts, and returning land and property to the original deedholders and families. I’m pretty sure money got in the way of that radical idea.

Feasts and festivals are tied together in the Old Testament. There is the feast of weeks, the feast of tabernacles, and the Passover.

They were times of celebration, reflection, and pilgrimage.

In our Thanksgiving celebrations, we celebrate the bounty of what God has given us, not afraid that if we indulge we will be without food tomorrow, for God is still in our tomorrows. We offer thanks to God and others for what we have. We make pilgrimages to home and family.

There are some families where thanks never seems to go to God. After watching the Macy’s Parade on TV, finally the food is ready by those who take their kitchen obligations seriously. The turkey comes out, everyone is welcomed to the table, and everyone digs in and eats until they are nearly unconscious before moving to the TV room for foot ball.

Yada, Yada, Yada!

OK, That’s Weird! Why did the pastor just use that as a slide title in his sermon?

That’s a phrase we hear these days that seems to take the place of “etcetera ad naseum” which sort of means “repeat it until I’m sick of hearing it”.

We toss it out as if to say, “yeah, just like you’ve heard before.”

And if you are young and you know what’s good for you, don’t ever say this to your parent when they are yelling at you — excuse me, when they are informing you of what you are supposed to be doing — unless you really want to end up sitting on the floor across the room with your head spinning.

But actually, when you do a Hebrew language word study on praise and thanksgiving, “yada” is the word that is used often in the Psalms to both say praise and to say thanks.

Here are a few examples:

Thank God for His Righteousness

Psalm 7:17 ESV

17 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.

Thank God for His Holiness

Psalm 99:3 ESV

3 Let them praise your great and awesome name! Holy is he!

Thank God for His Worthiness

Psalm 86:12 ESV

12 I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever.

So, following the theme of thanksgiving living, we could say its a matter of “yada-yada-yada” — always giving praise and thanks to God. What does this mean for our Thanksgiving Living?

Rejoice In Every Good the Lord Gives You

Deuteronomy 26:11 ESV

11 And you shall rejoice in all the good that the Lord your God has given to you and to your house, you, and the Levite, and the sojourner who is among you.

Praise and Thanks to God for Giving Hope

Psalm 30:4 ESV

4 Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints, and give thanks to his holy name.

Psalm 30:11–12 ESV

11 You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, 12 that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!

Always Praising God for All He Does

1 Chronicles 16:8–10 ESV

8 Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples! 9 Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works! 10 Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice!

1 Chronicles 16:34 ESV

34 Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!

Thanksgiving Living Never Stops

Psalm 104:33 ESV

33 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being.

Our Praise is Because of Salvation in Christ

Ephesians 1:3–6 ESV

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.

Our Salvation Itself is Praise to God

Ephesians 1:13–14 ESV

13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

Our Salvation is Reason to be Thankful

Colossians 2:6–7 ESV

6 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, 7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.