It has become rather easy for us to pass through Thanksgiving to focus our attention on Christmas rather than to grasp the real significance of it. Real Thanksgiving is a declaration of faith as we recognize the greatness of God. It is very clear in the Word of God that gratitude is at the very heartbeat of the life of the child of God. It doesn’t matter if you are reading the Old Testament or the New, we are constantly confronted with words of gratitude and praise.
When Mark Twain was at the peak of his writing career, it is said that his magazine and journal articles were worth $ 5 a word, which was a great sum of money in those days. A young Harvard graduate student sent Mark Twain a letter:
“Dear Mr. Twain: Enclosed please find $ 5. Please send me your best word”
A few days later, the student received a telegram with this single word response: “Thanks!”
It might be that “thanks” is the most valuable word in any language.
It is so easy to complain! If we get a little frustrated or irritated then we start to complain.I would say that the average person spends more time complaining than being thankful.
Complaining is counter-productive! Complaining will raise your blood pressure, make you look bad in front of others and for the most part is a waste of energy. Complaining is a lot like worry, it is a waste of time.
A famous stress researcher claims that two attitudes more than any other influences the quality of everyday life. The two emotions determine your peace of mind, feelings of insecurity, frustration and whether or not we will be a success in life. He says that the most destructive emotion is “revenge” but the one emotion that affects us more than any other in the reduction of stress is the feeling of gratitude.
Thanksgiving is so productive because it makes us forget our problems. It causes us to focus on the good things and positive things instead of negative things.
The word think and thank comes from the same root word. If we would spend more time thinking about the goodness of God then we would be more thankful. It’s impossible to be anxious and thankful at the same time.
I Thessalonians 5:18 “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you”
