The True Meaning of Thanksgiving

On Thursday many of us in the US will be celebrating Thanksgiving.

Most of the time this will include eating till our eyes pop out, followed closely by a trip to the couch for a quick nap with glimpses of the football games between nods.

Followed by the desert session with a plethora of pies to top everything off.

We do find ourselves getting together with family that we probably don’t see near as much as we should.

The airports get jammed and the roads on Wednesday are bumper to bumper with people coming and going to their destinations.

The Wednesday before Thanksgiving is also reported to be the busiest night at the bars. So that means that many are also hung over while they are with the family that they don’t see that often.

But is that what Thanksgiving was really meant to be?

Let’s take a look at the word itself, “Thanksgiving”…

To give thanks.

What do we have to be thankful for?

1. God’s Love – I just spent the last week or so posting about the definition of unconditional love. Make sure to read them if you haven’t already. God’s love is something that we should be giving thanks for everyday.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16

This was the greatest gift that the human race could have ever asked for.

This is the first thing that we should think of everyday. This applies to every man or woman who walks this earth.

2. The Opportunity for everlasting life – Through this most unselfish act that God did for us, He has given us the opportunity to have a joyful everlasting life.

Now I don’t know about you but I think that is unbelievable.

He sent His Son, Jesus down here to give us the example of what God wants us to live like and then the Living God died on the cross to forgive the sins of all mankind. He washed away our sins in order to clear a path for us to come to Him, through His Son, Jesus.

What do we have to give?

1. Our unconditional love for God and acceptance of His Son, Jesus – This is the price that we have to pay for everlasting life. We need to accept Jesus into our hearts and let Him repair our hearts. We have to let him in our hearts to help us become more like Him.

The question was asked:

“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Matthew 22:36-39

Unconditional love for God “with ALL your, with ALL your soul, and with ALL your mind.”

And followed closely by “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Ove the last couple of months, I have really examined the way that I look at others. I would always think thoughts about others based on what they may say, what they may look like or what they may do. And the thoughts were not always that flattering.

But then with a few messages from my pastor, I realized that God loves all of us equally. He looks at all of us as His children. We are after all created by Him.

How arrogant I was to look at others with less than unconditional love.

How arrogant I was to look upon God’s creation and think bad things.

I am a lot more conscious now of the thoughts that I have of others. I may not agree with what they do or what they say but I look at them with respect as God’s creation.

By changing the way I look at others, I find myself a lot less irritated. I pray A LOT more for the people that I come in contact with which keeps in touch with God A LOT more.

I have also come to the conclusion that Thanksgiving is about giving thanks all the time, not just in November. And giving my thanks to God every day, every hour, every minute, and every second for the great gifts that He has given me.

Have a GREAT Thanksgiving!!

As Always, Here’s to Your LifetoSuccess,

God Bless You,

John Clark