Families will get together for scrumptious meals, watching football games, visiting and reminiscing. As New Testament Christians we do not put any religious significance on one special day of the year as a day of thanksgiving. For the child of God, every day is thanksgiving day in the sense that we are grateful to our Father in heaven for all of His bountiful blessings.

The Bible repeatedly admonishes us to give thanks.  In the Old Testament David said,  "It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O Most High" (Psalm 92:1). In the New Testament Paul said, "And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful" (Colossians 3:15).

Thanksgiving Day in America has been observed since 1621 when the pilgrims of Plymouth Colony celebrated their first Thanksgiving. In the beginning they were faced with two options: to mourn or to rejoice. They had every reason to mourn--almost half the people had died due to the hardships they faced, malaria, freezing winter storms, and meager food supplies. 

One hundred and sixty-eighty years later, on November 26, 1789, George Washington proclaimed a day of Thanksgiving with these words:  "Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly implore His protection, aid and favor...Now therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these states to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country, and for all the great and various favors which He has pleased to confer upon us."

In 1863, President Lincoln issued a proclamation setting aside the last Thursday of November in that year  "as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father."

Each year afterward for 75 years, the President of the United States formally proclaimed that Thanksgiving Day should be celebrated on the last Thursday of November. But in 1839, President Roosevelt proclaimed Thanksgiving Day to be celebrated one week earlier. His purpose was to help business by making the shopping period between Thanksgiving and Christmas longer (That wouldn't matter today--the "Christmas shopping season" begins long before Halloween).

We are not the only country to celebrate such a holiday. Canada observes Thanksgiving on the second Monday of October. Other countries have similar holidays of thanksgiving.

However, in Exodus 12:14 we find a much earlier "Thanksgiving Day" celebration

In instituting the feast of the passover God said: "And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever." 

We might mention that the word rendered "forever" does not imply absolute endlessness but a period of indefinite length, a very long time, the length of which is hidden from us. So the children of Israel were given the passover as a type of thanksgiving day for their deliverance from Egyptian bondage.

Brethren, let us never forget that

We are dependent upon God for all our blessings

James tells us, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights..." (1:17). (This would include both physical and spiritual blessings.)  Everyone who is fair and honest with himself will admit that he is dependent upon God for all his blessings. 

Not a one of us could live a single hour without the blessings of God
Yet, we are seldom satisfied or thankful to God for these blessings
As Children of God, let us be appreciative of the many blessings we have been given

Let us give thanks to God daily for all that he has done for us