A Theology of Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Day is here and that means family, friends, lots of food, and Black Friday sales. From a cultural viewpoint, Thanksgiving is the beginning of the Christmas season. As I (and many others) would argue, Thanksgiving Day deserves our devout attention and ought to necessitate a spirit of thankfulness to God for his goodness in the last year.

Scripture presents us with a main overarching idea behind thanksgiving to God: Thanksgiving is a sacrifice to God and demonstrates true worship. This worship changes our heart attitude in the face of trials and ultimately conforms us more into the image of Christ.

Thanksgiving as Sacrifice

“When we speak of God’s mercies, we should magnify them and speak highly of them” (Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1994, pg. 910).

This seems simple enough. Magnify the mercies of God and speak highly of them. How difficult can it be?

No matter how far along in their walk, any Christian will experience the brick wall of doubt, despondency, and despair in life circumstances. God knows this. He knows we are but dust (Psalm 103:14), yet he commands us to rejoice in him always (Philippians 4:4). It sometimes seems too much for our weak bodies, minds, and hearts to do. Yet this is a command given to us by God. This is what often makes thanksgiving unto God a sacrifice. God’s Word commands us to give thanks to him in trials, to offer our desires freely and willingly to him, and to trust his sovereignty. In this way, thanksgiving, trust, and sovereignty weave together and create a beautiful picture of God’s children submitting fully to the desires of their Father.

Thanksgiving as True Worship

Offering thanksgiving to God is our sacrifice to him and true worship. When we thank him in difficulty, we can thank him in prosperity. In this way, we can fully and meaningfully praise him for redeeming us, transferring out of darkness into light, and for “losing [our] bonds” (Psalm 116:16). We can truly say with David, “I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the LORD” (Psalm 116:17).

We can offer God a sacrifice of thanksgiving on this side of eternity through joyfully submitting to his will and by giving thanks to him no matter our circumstances. Especially, when we do not feel thankful. This is often the posture of my heart when I come to him—I thank him without my heart fully entering into thankfulness. I need his help to be truly thankful. I need to be made fully and completely new. I need a new heart and mind not tainted with sin.

Scripture offers me hope as I come before him —a hope that I will be able to worship him without sin and hardness in my heart.

An example of this is in Isaiah 51:3: “For the LORD comforts Zion, he comforts all her waste places and makes her wilderness like Eden, her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of song.”

One commentator observes that this verse points to the Garden of Eden, the New Jerusalem. There will be, “No more sorrow or weeping, for it will be a place of undisturbed joy, with gladness, thanksgiving, and singing to the melody of musical instruments” (Isaiah: A Logion Press Commentary, 2000, pg. 380). Here, in the futuristic Garden of Eden, the New Jerusalem, there will be true thanksgiving unto God.

Take time to give thanks to the Lord for his faithfulness and goodness in hardship and prosperity. Meditate on the future thanksgiving we will offer God with undefiled hearts when he returns to redeem and restore us fully to himself.

Happy Thanksgiving from So We Speak!

Brittany Proffitt lives in Dallas and is a writer and content manager for So We Speak.

Give

Subscribe to the Daybreak Devotions for Women

Be inspired by God's Word every day! Delivered to your inbox.


More from Cole Feix

  • featureImage

    The Pursuit of Truth, Goodness, and…Beauty? Suggested Reading on Arts and the Christian Life

    When someone mentions “the arts,” what do you think of? I believe a typical picture includes an “anything goes” attitude, whether in the artist’s lifestyle or in the art’s production itself. The arts typically get relegated into a culturally liberalized category, often leaving Christians scratching their heads, wondering if bringing art in any form into the church is a wise decision. Before I jump into book recommendations on this topic, let me begin by providing a brief survey of beauty in wors

    9 min read
  • featureImage

    Podcast – Villains of the Bible: Herod

    Check out the So We Speak podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.Herod is one of the most well-known villains in the Bible. Without the biblical accounts, historians might have convinced us that he was a successful ruler. Born in 73 BC and dying in 4 BC, Herod lived through significant events in Roman and Middle Eastern history. He rose to power through his alliance with Mark Antony, who supported him in exchange for the wealth Herod could generate through taxation.Herod had no royal lineage to ju

    2 min read
  • featureImage

    The Ḥesed of God, Part 1: Hope and Joy in the Midst of Despair

    Hesed.Hesed is a rich Hebrew word and unfortunately it is extremely challenging to find a word that even comes close in English. The closest our Bibles come to is steadfast love, lovingkindness, or mercy. Yet even these fall short. Hesed is viewed as God’s covenantal, loyal and enduring love for his people, a love that pursues his people when they have done nothing but reject him (think the Israelites in the wilderness). It’s a covenantal loyalty that is unwavering and not based upon the conditi

    3 min read
  • featureImage

    The Power of Praising God in Prison

    Life can be challenging at times. Jesus made it clear that following him doesn’t exempt us from suffering. In fact, following Jesus guarantees suffering and persecution. “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first” (John 15:18). As followers of Jesus, we will face trials, rejection, and hardship. So, what do we do when life gets tough? Throughout the Bible, we find stories of faithful people enduring trials not because they disobeyed God, but because they followed him. One of th

    3 min read
  • featureImage

    Podcast - Villains of the Bible: Sennacherib

    Sennacherib’s story takes place in the eight century BC. He makes the villain list because of his invasion of the Southern Kingdom of Judah. His father, Sargon, came to the Assyrian throne in 722 BC which was the same year they conquered the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Sargon’s body was never recovered after he died in a battle in Turkey. It was believed that because his body was not recovered after battle, this was a curse from the gods, and he was doomed to wander the afterlife begging for foo

    2 min read

Editor's Picks

More from Cole Feix

  • featureImage

    The Pursuit of Truth, Goodness, and…Beauty? Suggested Reading on Arts and the Christian Life

    When someone mentions “the arts,” what do you think of? I believe a typical picture includes an “anything goes” attitude, whether in the artist’s lifestyle or in the art’s production itself. The arts typically get relegated into a culturally liberalized category, often leaving Christians scratching their heads, wondering if bringing art in any form into the church is a wise decision. Before I jump into book recommendations on this topic, let me begin by providing a brief survey of beauty in wors

    9 min read
  • featureImage

    Podcast – Villains of the Bible: Herod

    Check out the So We Speak podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.Herod is one of the most well-known villains in the Bible. Without the biblical accounts, historians might have convinced us that he was a successful ruler. Born in 73 BC and dying in 4 BC, Herod lived through significant events in Roman and Middle Eastern history. He rose to power through his alliance with Mark Antony, who supported him in exchange for the wealth Herod could generate through taxation.Herod had no royal lineage to ju

    2 min read
  • featureImage

    The Ḥesed of God, Part 1: Hope and Joy in the Midst of Despair

    Hesed.Hesed is a rich Hebrew word and unfortunately it is extremely challenging to find a word that even comes close in English. The closest our Bibles come to is steadfast love, lovingkindness, or mercy. Yet even these fall short. Hesed is viewed as God’s covenantal, loyal and enduring love for his people, a love that pursues his people when they have done nothing but reject him (think the Israelites in the wilderness). It’s a covenantal loyalty that is unwavering and not based upon the conditi

    3 min read
  • featureImage

    The Power of Praising God in Prison

    Life can be challenging at times. Jesus made it clear that following him doesn’t exempt us from suffering. In fact, following Jesus guarantees suffering and persecution. “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first” (John 15:18). As followers of Jesus, we will face trials, rejection, and hardship. So, what do we do when life gets tough? Throughout the Bible, we find stories of faithful people enduring trials not because they disobeyed God, but because they followed him. One of th

    3 min read
  • featureImage

    Podcast - Villains of the Bible: Sennacherib

    Sennacherib’s story takes place in the eight century BC. He makes the villain list because of his invasion of the Southern Kingdom of Judah. His father, Sargon, came to the Assyrian throne in 722 BC which was the same year they conquered the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Sargon’s body was never recovered after he died in a battle in Turkey. It was believed that because his body was not recovered after battle, this was a curse from the gods, and he was doomed to wander the afterlife begging for foo

    2 min read