Prerequisites of Thanksgiving
Bobby Dockery
Fayetteville, AR
4/1/98
Prerequisites of Thanksgiving
In keeping with a custom older than our nation, Americans will observe Thanksgiving this week. The first American day of Thanksgiving was proclaimed by Governor William Bradford of the Massachusetts Bay Colony on December 13, 1621. Since that time Thanksgiving has been a day reserved for the expression of gratitude to God for the many evidences of His sure and lasting mercies toward His creatures.
Perhaps this national holiday is an especially appropriate time for us as Christians to consider and celebrate the reasons we have for giving daily thanks to our Maker. And, as we do so, we would do well to reflect upon the following requirements of genuine thanksgiving.
1. Thanksgiving Requires Thought. The English words "think" and "thank" come from the same Anglo-Saxon root word. Perhaps one reason so few really thank is because so few really think! Let us learn to say: "We have thought on Your lovingkindness, O God!" (Psalm 48.9).
2. Thanksgiving Requires Contentment. Our nation is characterized by a spirit of restlessness which mirrors the fundamental discontent of its people. We have the highest standard of living in history and we still are not satisfied! Paul caught the spirit of Christ when he said: "Having food and clothing, let us be content." (I Timothy 6.8.)
3. Thanksgiving Requires Worship. Genuine appreciation seeks to express itself to its Benefactor. The highest form of thanksgiving is worship; the highest form of worship is thanksgiving. Thirty-one
times in the book of Psalms, the Jewish manual of Worship, some form of the words "thanks" or "thanksgiving" appears.
4. Thanksgiving Requires Service. Real gratitude reaches out. Those who have been blessed with the bounty of God must share that bounty with others. The Christian must strive to become a conduit through which the blessings of God flow on to enrich the lives of those around him. As we have been blessed by God so let us become His means of blessing others!
-BOBBY DOCKERY
Fayetteville, Arkansas
