It's Always Thanksgiving

Photo by John Eric Marababol on unsplash

I know. You will sit at the table with relatives, eat too much turkey with all the trimmings and sweets to boot. You may watch some football and might go out and play a little football. That's Thanksgiving, the holiday as we know it.

Sorry, but that's not thanksgiving of heart soul and mind. Maybe you'll say "grace," speaking words of thankfulness to God when you eat your meal. That's what we should all do, but let's don't stop there.

We've covered thirty days about Thanksgiving in this blog, I'm through typing out these posts each day on this subject for awhile. 

If there's anything we've tried to express, it's this: Thanksgiving should become a lifestyle. It should come from the heart. We should express our thanks to God early and often even when we're going through trials. And, above all - DON'T STOP.

Just as it is important that we don't only go to church on Christmas and Easter; it is also important that we don't just give thanks on Thanksgiving. Let's be thankful every day. Take time each day to get alone with God and say, "Thank you Lord." Take time when you eat together as a family to stop and say "thanks" to God then too. Every time you recognize a blessing, take the time to thank God. Even on dark days when you can't see the sun shining, thank God because you know, by faith, that it is shining. 

"Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. (1 Corinthians 15.58)

But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary in doing good. (2 Thessalonians 3.13)

Daniel was a young Jewish man who had been taken into captivity by the Babylonians. He was in the palace of the King, evidently because the King recognized his great wisdom. Because he excelled, the King made him one of three overseers in his kingdom. He made Daniel the top overseer among the three and gave him authority even over princes. This made the other overseers and princes jealous so they began to plot against him.

They came up with a devious plan to convince the King to sign a decree that no one be allowed to pray to any god or man other than the King himself for thirty days. 

Not knowing what they were up to, the King was flattered and signed the decree, but those men knew it was Daniel's habit to pray. He had always prayed, not only daily, but three times a day – openly.

You would have expected Daniel to shrink back but he didn't. He went to his room with his window opened and knelt before God in the direction of Jerusalem. The bible says he "prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime." (Daniel 6.10)

Daniel had made it a daily habit to give thanks to God. When the test came his way, he was already established and continued thanking God.

Most of us know the rest of that story. The King was reluctantly compelled to throw Daniel into the hungry lions' den but Daniel came out alive and unharmed. Daniel continued to advise and serve not only the Babylonian King but Kings of the Medo-Persian empire. He outlasted all those who tried to stop him.

I cannot guarantee you that you'll come out of your next trial unharmed, but I can say that I believe you'll be glad you never failed to give thanks to God each day of your life.

Thanksgiving; Let's keep it going!