Expressions of Thanksgiving

We are only a week away from celebrating Thanksgiving Day! I love this time of year as the holiday season gears up. A day set aside as a nation to honor God for His many blessings. Yet sadly the commercialization of the holidays distract us from the true meaning of the holiday. The shopping malls used to give us some time for family, but now the stores are opening even on Thanksgiving day for pre-black Friday deals.

Let us not lose what Thanksgiving was intended for. Remember the good that God has done and celebrate our Creator. List the blessings, the acts of kindness and the gifts that God has given you throughout your life. Reflect on how God has moved and provided for you. Tell others of what He has done. Maybe for one day, when you kneel to pray, don’t ask God for anything just thank Him.

In youth group and church, we express our thanksgiving to God in a number of ways, but one primary through worship. Worship means to ascribe worth or value to someone or something. When we sing praise and worship songs, we should be singing prayers of worth and praise to God. It is our time to lift our voices together to the God who created us and sent His Son to redeem us. 

Have you ever received a gift from someone that you were super excited about? How did you respond to that person who gave you that gift? How did you talk about that gift to others? How long did you share the experience with others?

When we receive something we are really excited about we talk about it. We verbally thank the person who gave it to us. We talk highly of that person as often as we can. And how long we continue to speak of it demonstrates just how deeply we were affected by the gift.

King David resonated with this in his song of repentance in Psalm 51. He cried out to God to forgive his sin and restore the joy of salvation to him. Then he follows the request with “Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you…O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.”

If you are a Christian reading this, you have eternity to be thankful for. Jesus has rescued you from the kingdom of darkness and placed you in the His Kingdom of Light. You no longer stand condemned, but forgiven. How can you not speak of His glorious Name? How can you remain silent? Rejoice and express your thanksgiving to God!