{"id":2253,"date":"2019-11-23T02:34:33","date_gmt":"2019-11-23T02:34:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/allthecounselofgod.com\/?p=2253"},"modified":"2019-11-23T02:34:33","modified_gmt":"2019-11-23T02:34:33","slug":"true-thanksgiving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/allthecounselofgod.com\/index.php\/2019\/11\/23\/true-thanksgiving\/","title":{"rendered":"True Thanksgiving"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Someone has defined Thanksgiving <\/em>as \u201cour annual time for saying grace at the table of eternal goodness.\u201d Just as some people neglect to say grace before their meals, so some have forgotten the meaning of Thanksgiving.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is good to\nremember that \u201cthink\u201d and \u201cthank\u201d come from the same root.\nWe need only to think in order to be thankful. Yet ingratitude is one of the\nmost common sins of our time. The inability to feel and express gratitude shuts\noff blessings God would otherwise freely give. Dwight H. Small writes,\n\u201cHow can God lavish His blessing and power upon the heart that is so\ndominated by self as to be incapable of reciprocating with proper gratitude? Grave\nindeed is the sin of ingratitude which withholds the blessing of God from\noneself and from others.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When\nGeorge Washington issued the first Thanksgiving Proclamation, he said, \u201cIt is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the\nprovidence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits,\nand humbly to implore His protection.\u201d This is a good summary of the duty\nof all nations today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\ncan all be thankful for what we acquire, and what we avoid. We can be thankful\nfor what we experience, and for what we escape. We can be thankful for what we\nhave, and for the blows which do not come. But let us not make the mistake of tying\nour thanksgiving to material blessings alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The basis of a true spirit of thanksgiving is not material at all, but spiritual. It is based on the love and mercy of God, on the joy of the Lord, on the forgiveness of sins, and the cleanness of heart. It grows out of freedom from corroding care, and the peace of God which\u201d \u2026 shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus\u201d (Philippians 4:7).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No\nportion of our Bible is more full of expressions of praise and thanksgiving\nthan the Psalms. Yet these sparkling anthems of praise were written by men who\nsuffered bitter persecution, who risked and, at times, lost all they had, who\nlived in a little kingdom constantly skirting the edge of disaster, and whose\nstandard of living<\/p>\n\n\n\n

would\nmake the poorest of our day seem almost like millionaires in comparison. Still\nthey offered \u201d \u2026 the sacrifice of thanksgiving \u2026 \u201d (Psalm 116:\n17) from full hearts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\na shame it is then to us if we do less! To us has been given God\u2019s unspeakable\ngift, and He who has not withheld His own Son,\u201d \u2026 but delivered him up\nfor us all \u2026 \u201c, will certainly with\u201d \u2026 him also freely give us\nall things\u201d (Romans 8:32). Let us then be thankful, and make sure that in\nappropriate ways we say \u201cgrace at the table of eternal goodness.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"