WHY THANKSGIVING?

Dearly Beloved, WHY THANKSGIVING? "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" (Psalm 92:1-2 NKJV). Thanksgiving Day is a holiday celebrated in the United States on the fourth Thursday in November. It has officially been an annual tradition since 1863, when, during the US Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of "Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens," to be celebrated on Thursday, November 26. However, most stories of Thanksgiving history start with the harvest celebration of the Pilgrims (that came from England to settle in the "New World") and the Native Americans that took place in the autumn of 1621. Historians and Jewish sources have pointed out that America's Thanksgiving holiday may not have been a totally new celebration, but that its roots may go back thousands of years to the biblical Feast of Tabernacles - a celebration of the ingathering of all the fruits of the year (see Exodus 23:16; Leviticus 23:34-36, 39-43; Numbers 29:12-38; Deuteronomy 16:13-15; 31:10-13). Many people in other parts of the world have adopted or adapted this celebration as annual event to thank God for His goodness in the year. Apart from God's goodness, why should one thank God? Why thanksgiving? The goodness of God alone is enough to thank Him! Many writers of the books of the Bible declared this (see Psalm 31:19; 36:7-10; 73:1, 24-26; 92:1-15; 116:12; 136:1-26; 145:7-9; Isaiah 12:1-6; Lamentation 3:23-25; 1 John 3:1-2). However, it is a command to thank God, not only during Thanksgiving Day or Celebration, but all the time (see Psalm 50:14; Ephesians 5:20; Philippians 4:6; Colossians 3:17; 1 Thessalonians 5:18; Hebrews 13:15). Paul, in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, further said that it is the will of God for us to do so. Another reason why we should thank God is that we are honouring Him by doing so (Psalm 22:23; 50:23; 69:30-31). Furthermore, if one is thankful, one is bound to get more goodness from God. The story of the thankful leper in Luke 17:11-17 buttresses this. Someone has said, "Whoever possesses any good without giving thanks for it deprives him who bestows that good of his glory, sets a bad example before others, and prepares a recollection severely painful for himself when he comes in his turn to experience ingratitude." We are already in the season of thanksgiving. Do you have any reason to thank God? Why thanksgiving? Do not be unthankful. If you think very well, you will know that it is indeed good to thank God and sing praises to His name. In His service, Bayo Afolaranmi (Pastor).