Giving thanks is the natural response to some favor received. It is ingratitude to be thankless. Not to give thanks is the sign of pride and ego. If we are thankful to our fellow beings, how much more we should be to our Creator who has blessed us richly in different ways.

Thanksgiving is observed as a national festival only in North America (the second Monday of October in Canada and the fourth Thursday in America)' This is the remembrance of the rich blessings that the first settlers (pilgrims as they are called, thinking that they were making pilgrimage to the "promised land of milk and honey") received in the early days of their settlement. It was begun by the Plymouth settlers at the end of their harvest, as harvest festival. They gathered in groups to thank God for blessing them at their hard labor and sufferings of their early days.

Thanksgiving has a spiritual implication. The Psalmist asks his soul to praise the Lord for the benefits. In Psalm 116:8 he says from what all he was delivered. The first and the foremost benefit that he received from God was the forgiveness of sin. "He delivered my soul from death." This is the deliverance from the spiritual death. "The wages of sin is death." (Romans 6:23) We are sinners by birth and by our deeds. So we are destined for spiritual death and eternal condemnation. But God, in His mercy, paid off our wages by forgiving it through the death of Jesus on the cross. Jesus took our death on His body and set us free. We must greatly be grateful to our Savior.

The second benefit is the deliverance form problems.. "He delivered my eyes from sorrows. This is the deliverance from our sufferings, trials and sorrows.. If we look back to our lives we can easily see that God delivered us many a times from our troubles (sickness, dangers, economic and other problems) and kept us happy. It is not our doing but His Mercy and love. But we have a tendency to forget this and live as if it is our making. We must be thankful to God for His great love and concern for us.

The third benefit is giving a victorious life. "He delivered my feet from stumbling." This is the victory over temptations. In this life we face many temptations; spiritual, mental and of the flesh. Our own strength is not sufficient enough to overcome them. We need the Grace of God. A successful Christian is a victorious Christian. Whether being addicted to some bad habits or enslaved by satanic power only God can give us victory.

Not only that God did some thing for us in the past, but He has promised us that He does bless us now and also the days to come. In Psalm 103 the Psalmist enumerates these promises in verses 3 to 5. He says :

1. "He forgives all your sins." This is the promise to pardon even our sins in the future.

2.' He heals all your diseases". God promises to heal all our diseases completely; whether physical, mental, emotional or spiritual. The only condition is that we have to take them to Him in faith.

3. "He redeems your life from the pit." This means that a life so dirty and out cast is redeemed by rescuing,,, cleaning and reforming it. In Isaiah God says, "though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though red as crimson, they shall be like wool." (Isaiah 1:18) He removes the stains of sin in our lives by washing with the blood of Jesus shed on the cross.

God not only removes the negative things from our lives but also blesses and enriches us with positive gifts.

1. "He crowns you with love and compassion"

2. "He satisfies with all good things "

3. "He renews the youth like the eagle's."

Some times He withholds blessings as He knows that it may help us to draw closer to Him. His plans are wiser than ours. Still we must be happy and content.

How great is our God who benefits us with spiritual, mental, physical and material blessings. So it is only our duty and right to thank Him. We have to reciprocate for the good things that we receive and things that are promised. But we humans cannot equal Him in giving. Humans usually give back equal gifts. But the most cherished return for our benefits from God is our praises.

But how should we thank Him ? The Psalmist gives how he thanks, which is a very exemplary way of doing it. He says," How can I repay for His goodness to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord. I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of his people" In another translation it says, "I will bring a wine offering to the Lord to thank Him for saving me" (Psalm 116:12-14) The best return for the goodness that we receive from our God is to go to Him and accept the salvation that His son Jesus brought for us; by His death and praise Him before His people as a testimony so that others may also come to this salvation.

This is the meaningful THANKSGIVING. It should not end up with "Turkey, corn and wine."

See Also:

Comforting Thoughts When You Face Obstacles
Our strength and comfort comes from our Lord. He is our strength and refuge. He is a God of sympathy and understanding. He knows our hurt and loneliness. He knows how we feel.

What Does Trusting God Mean?
Wouldn't it be wonderful if we had no problems and no uncomfortable situations in life? Someday, when we all get to heaven, that's the way it will be. Until then, the closest thing to heaven is keeping God first in our lives, helping other people, and being in a complete state of trusting God.

God's Love
The greatest power in the world is not the Hydrogen bomb, but it is the redeeming love of God. The Hydrogen bomb may destroy the whole world but only the redeeming love of God can make it anew.