I love Thanksgiving. I’m thankful that I was raised in a family that celebrated Thanksgiving with large family gatherings, lots of turkey and dressing, Nana’s rolls, and fun with siblings and cousins. It was a holiday about family and food. I have wonderful memories of those years.
As years passed, things changed, still a special holiday, but different. I remember one year it wasn’t so special. I think it was 1968, I was in the Air Force stationed in Kansas City, Mo., far away from family. I went to a crummy buffet off-base for a Thanksgiving meal — not many people there, but a few. It just didn’t seem right. The one good thing about that day was my wife, Peggy, was there, too.
It was about two years later that I opened by heart and life to the Lordship of Jesus, and things began to change in many ways. For one, Thanksgiving became more than a holiday; it became an attitude of heart and life.
I began to be thankful to God, for God, for him and his workings in my life and new family. As I read and became more familiar with the Bible, I discovered the ‘Thanksgiving’ theme that flowed throughout both the Old and New testaments.
O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever — Psalm 30:12
Praise the Lord!
Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever. — Psalm 106:1
In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you — 1 Thessalonians 5:18
We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty,
The One who is and who was and who is to come — Rev 11:17
Will you join me in welcoming a new ‘heart of Thanksgiving’ this season, an attitude of heart and life which will bring refreshing and thankfulness in everything?
Yes, Thanksgiving is more than a holiday, it’s an attitude of thankfulness to God that can be experienced and expressed every day.
Louie Locke is the pastor of Fountainhead Foursquare Church, 3690 Highway 395, Carson City, www.ffcwired.org.