“Oh give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples.” — Psalm 105:1, NASB

Thanksgiving: the holiday that seems to be lost between Halloween and Christmas. Let’s face it — our jack-o-lanterns haven’t even wilted on our front porches before Christmas decorations are on display, trees are put up and lights begin to adorn the eves of houses. Trick or treat is still ringing in our ears as we begin to hear the list of this season’s “must have” Christmas gifts.

Why does it seem so difficult for Americans living the U.S. to give thanks? No, let’s narrow the question down to be even more specific: Why does it seem so difficult for believers living in the U.S. to live a life that expresses thankfulness?

It’s biblical

We find the phrase give thanks more than 140 times in the Bible. And that doesn’t even include the word praise as it relates to gratitude! For something that is emphasized so much in Scripture, believers, on the whole, spend very little time expressing gratitude.

What if, this year, we refused to rush past Thanksgiving and instead, prioritized giving thanks?

Here’s what that could look like:

• Read verses that encourage you to “give thanks or praise.”
• Choose a different verse about giving thanks each day and share it with a coworker.
• Make a list of everything from this past year for which you’re thankful.

How might this affect our lives and those around us during this Thanksgiving season? What if we expressed our thanksgiving not just on this Thursday in November? My challenge to you is simple: Take something you’re thankful for and, like Psalm 105 says, declare it among the nations. 

Mark Silvers served with Crossworld in the Philippines for 10 years and joined the home office staff as Director of Mobilization in 2009. Mark’s driving passion is the goal of reaching the the 2.9 billion people in the world today with no access to the gospel.