“For seven days you shall celebrate this pilgrim feast in honor of the LORD, your God, in the place, which he chooses; since the LORD, your God, has blessed you in all your crops and in all your undertakings, you shall do nought but make merry.”
-Deuteronomy 16:15
I’ve often wondered how those first pilgrims were able to give thanks when they were starving, cold, and ravaged with disease. I imagine it’s much easier for me to be thankful with a great feast spread before me in the comfort of a warm home that’s crowded with friends and family.
But God doesn’t want us to only be thankful when our stomachs and hearts are full. He calls us to glorify His name at all times and to count our blessings even when they’re not as apparent.
True gratitude really isn’t a warm and cozy feeling we should entertain once a year at the Thanksgiving table. It’s a lifelong choice we must make. Maybe we should call it Thanksliving. Even when it would be easier to focus on what we don’t have, we must count our blessings and embrace the virtue of gratitude, which has been called the “rarest flower in the garden.”
When we show gratitude, we humble our souls. After all, everything we have – from all the turkey and trimmings to the hands that raise our glasses in thanks – is a gift from God.
Lord, give me a grateful and cheerful heart, and help me to rejoice in you always.
May your family have a wonderful and happy Thanksgiving, and may your hearts be filled with gratitude now and always!
