Thanksgiving Every Day: How to Make Gratitude a Way of Life, Not Just a Holiday

A Yearly Reminder

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. With Thanksgiving feasts, church meal deliveries, family gatherings, afternoon football games on TV, and Charlie Brown, Thanksgiving week is chock-full of opportunities to give Thanksgiving to the Lord.

As a lover of the Autumn season, Thanksgiving is the pinnacle of fall for me. When I was a kid, I would wake up to the smell of an array of amazing dishes that would grab my taste buds and make my mouth water all day. The smooth sounds of Kenny G’s saxophone, Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on the television, and football games in the backyard are all things I’ll never forget.

Yet, the nostalgia of Thanksgivings past can’t compare with the joys of becoming a child of God and walking with the King of Kings. For all of the earthly joys we can be thankful for, we have even greater blessings and joys because of the salvation gifted to us through faith in Christ. We were once dead in sin and enemies of God. Then God, in his rich mercy, saw our poverty and sent his Son to save us! That’s something to be thankful for. Beyond that, we now have new identities, are part of the body of Christ, and we have a new family, a new heart, and eternal life!

More Than a Feast Day

Though Thanksgiving is so memorable and enjoyable, it took me many years to understand the connection of this holiday to actually being thankful. I still don’t fully grasp it, but I appreciate Thanksgiving far more than I used to. Thanksgiving is a time to reflect, worship God, and thank Him for his generosity. There are hundreds of verses in the Bible that urge us to reflect on the goodness of God, command us to be thankful for God and his gifts, or remind us that God is worthy of our Thanksgiving.

For the Christian, Thanksgiving is more than a feast day. Feasting can be a good way to celebrate God and his good gifts, and we should gladly partake in celebration meals together (1 Tim. 4:4-5). Yet Christians can also use it as a day of displaying gratitude for the glorious work of our triune God in salvation and his work in our everyday lives.

We can thank God for the breath we breathe each day, and the bed we lie in each night. We express gratitude for our homes, our jobs, and our communities. We are grateful for the people in our lives—especially fellow believers who help us grow and walk with God. We offer thanksgiving to the Lord for the smallest blessings and the greatest providences. We can truly offer thanksgiving to God for all his benefits (Psalm 103:2).

The Will of God

One eye-opening reality I’ve learned over the years is that it’s the will of God to be thankful. Have you ever prayed for God to reveal his will? He has two wills. We typically think of God’s hidden will, which is his sovereign governing of the events of this life and this world. God’s revealed will is found in Scripture in his teachings and commands for his people.  It’s easy to gravitate toward focusing on trying to find his hidden will while neglecting his revealed will, isn’t it? The all-knowing God of the universe doesn’t always reveal his intentions to us, and we have to trust his wisdom in his perfect plan and knowledge.

However, we can know his revealed will by opening the Bible to passages like 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” Did you catch that? God specifically gives us insight into his will, and right there in his will is this simple phrase: “give thanks in all circumstances.” It’s good, acceptable, and pleasing to God when we offer thanksgiving. In God’s gracious providence, our nation has a day of celebration set aside with holiday pay and gatherings for thanksgiving! This is an open door to worship God and glorify his name in the presence of both believing and unbelieving friends and family.

Are You Thankful?

We live in an age of overstimulation and anxiety. To combat the anxieties and dysfunction of our age, even unbelievers are building in gratitude practices in their lives—from gratitude journals to thankfulness meditations. As the children of God, don’t we have even more to be thankful for than unbelievers? We see the providence of God and his common grace on full display every day. We don’t believe in coincidences or mere luck. We know God is at work in the details of our lives—even when we are suffering.

As we consider being purposeful with our devotional lives this Thanksgiving, here are a few areas worthy of our thankful meditation and prayer:

• The Father’s love in sending Jesus (John 3:16)

• The Father’s steadfast love toward his people (Psalm 136)

• Jesus’ love in laying down his life for believers (John 15:13, 1 John 3:16)

• Jesus’ continuing intercession for those who are in Him (Hebrews 7:25)

• The Holy Spirit’s regenerating work to open your eyes to see the gospel (John 3:1-21)

• The Holy Spirit’s continual intercession for those who are in Christ (Romans 8:26-27)

Start pursuing gratitude today. Open to John 3:16 and spend a few minutes jotting down some meditations on the passage. Pray through these meditations by yourself and then with your family. Fathers, develop a brief devotional to share with the family before Thanksgiving dinner. Mothers, remind your children of the importance of thanksgiving and share why the gospel brings true thanksgiving in our hearts. Grandparents, aunts, or uncles, arrange some fun crafts to do with the kids at Thanksgiving dinner to remind them of the glory of God in the gospel. Regardless of the season of life you're in, show your loved ones a genuine heart of thanksgiving.

What are some other reasons to be thankful? What passages or works of God make you thankful? Keep finding ways to express thanksgiving to the Lord.