Giving Thanks

by Katie Harding on November 23, 2021

When I think about Thanksgiving, my heart wants to change the word order and declare it a day of giving thanks. It might sound the same to many people, but for me the order brings new meaning. The focus on who or what is being celebrated is different. When we refer to the fourth Thursday of November as Thanksgiving, the focus seems to be on the gift — a day of celebration that is centered around food, family, and for some, football. If we refer to it as a day of giving thanks instead, the celebration shifts to focus on the giver — God our Father and Jesus Christ, His Son.

When the Israelites wept after hearing Ezra, the priest and scribe, read from the Book of the Law, Nehemiah instructed them not to grieve, but to “celebrate with a feast of choice foods and sweet drinks…” They, too, were to come together with food to celebrate — not the day, but the One who made the day possible. Their feast days were always about celebrating — remembering the Lord, who He is, and what He had done. In fact, they were to share their food with those who didn’t have time to prepare, so that no one would be left out of the celebration.

Their feast days were always about celebrating — remembering the Lord, who He is, and what He had done.

It was in this context that Nehemiah reminded the people, “the joy of the Lord is your strength.” There was a reason he tacked this onto his instructions about celebrating. When we dig a little deeper and realize that joy actually means rejoicing and the word strength means fortress, we gain a greater understanding of what Nehemiah was saying. He was reminding them that by rejoicing in the Lord, they would find their place of refuge — their place of strength. Rejoicing reminded them of what the Lord had done and deepened their trust of what the Lord could do.

When we rejoice in the Lord — in His sovereignty, His goodness, who He is and what He has done, we, too, find a place of refuge from all life’s trials and hardships. We, too, can find a place of strength that moves us to greater trust in our Lord. This is the importance of celebrating Thanksgiving every year — a day of giving thanks.