As I thought about the word “thanksgiving,” it made me wonder when it was first and last mentioned in the Bible. When I looked it up in a concordanc,e I was not surprised to find that the first entry listed was very early in the Old Testament, and the final one was in the Book of Revelation. Thankfulness has been and always will be an important component of the Christian worship system.

I am deeply grateful that our nation continues to observe Thanksgiving Day. While we can easily get caught up in all the festivities of the season, we need to purposely take some time to acknowledge the One from Whom all our blessings originate and give Him thanks. At the same time we must remember that such gratitude to God should not be limited to one day or one season of the year--we should be careful to thank Him everyday. The Bible drives home this truth: “When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land He has given you. If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed” (Deuteronomy 8:10,19, NIV). God has truly given us a good and bountiful land--let us praise and thank Him daily!

There is probably not a more fitting bit of Scripture during this holiday season than Psalm 100. Perhaps we should allow it to generate a few questions about our personal thankfulness to God.

We should ask “Do I express my thankfulness with actions?” The psalmist approaches the topic of thanksgiving with instructions for the people to worship the Lord with gladness and to enter His courts with thanksgiving. When we think of reasons to be thankful, the privilege to freely worship should rank up near the top. Sadly, by far too many, it is a neglected privilege. May we gladly and enthusiastically show our thankfulness to God through consistency in public worship.

Another question to ponder is “Am I aware of how truly awesome God is?” As the psalmist reminds us, we are created by God. Yet by our attitudes we sometimes act as though we are independent, self made beings. Scripture describes us as “the sheep of His pasture.” Sheep are exceedingly dependent on their shepherd--he leads them to water, to food, and to safety. How much more are we dependent on God! We must be thankful that He has chosen to love us so dearly!

One other question to consider: “Have I given thought to the perfect nature of God?” Psalm 100 concludes by reminding us of an everlasting truth: “For the Lord is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations.” The perfect nature of God includes a place for us--we are imperfect because of sin, but we can be thankful that He sent Jesus Christ to make the way for imperfect humanity to come into a perfect relationship with God by accepting His forgiveness and the gift of eternal life through faith in Christ.

How do you rate the sincerity of your thankfulness when you consider these three areas? May we all strive to be more genuine in our appreciation to God for His abundant blessings.