Thanksgiving is a day set apart to focus on your blessings and to praise God for all He has done for you this year. Just read the word, thanks giving. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, thanksgiving means the following:
a public acknowledgment or celebration of divine goodness
the act of giving thanks
a prayer expressing gratitude
It is a time to spend with loved ones and share gratefulness and joy. Thanksgiving is known to have started in America in 1621 when the "Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Native Americans shared an autumn harvest feast that is acknowledged today as one of the first Thanksgiving celebrations in the colonies". (History, 2020). However, thanksgiving started long before that. It began with God and is first mentioned in Leviticus 7:12, when God told His people how to offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving. It is mentioned throughout the Bible, many faithful men and women offering praises, thanksgivings, and gratitude to God Almighty.
Below are just a few I will mention. They offered many thanksgivings to God throughout their life, I will just give one or two scripture references as an example.
Daniel: “I thank You and praise You, O God of my fathers; You have given me wisdom and might, and have now made known to me what we asked of You, for You have made known to us the king’s demand.” (Daniel 2:22-24)
David: "Therefore I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the Gentiles, and sing praises to Your name." (2 Samuel 22:50)
The Old Testament Priests, Levites, and Sons of Asaph: "When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests stood in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the Lord, according to the ordinance of David king of Israel. And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the Lord: “For He is good, for His mercy endures forever toward Israel.” Then all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. (Ezra 3:10-11)
Asaph: "We give thanks to You, O God, we give thanks! For Your wondrous works declare that Your name is near." (Psalm 75:1)
Jonah: “When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord; and my prayer went up to You, into Your holy temple. “Those who regard worthless idols forsake their own Mercy. But I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord.” (Jonah 2:7-9)
Anna: "Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity; and this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. And coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem." (Luke 2:36-38)
Jesus: "And He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitude. 37 So they all ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets full of the fragments that were left." (Matthew 15:36-37)
Do you want a heart that is filled with thankfulness and praise? Read Psalm, it is the song chapter of the Bible and is filled with praise and thanksgiving to God. Click here to read more Bible verses about thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family! Feel free to share your thanksgivings in the comments.
It is good to give thanks to the Lord, and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; to declare Your lovingkindness in the morning, and Your faithfulness every night, on an instrument of ten strings, on the lute, and on the harp, with harmonious sound. For You, Lord, have made me glad through Your work; I will triumph in the works of Your hands. (Psalm 92:1-4)
Oh come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. For the Lord is the great God, and the great King above all gods. (Psalm 95:1-3)
Know that the Lord, He is God; it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations. (Psalm 100:3-5)