November 25th, 2025
This week, we celebrate Thanksgiving, a tradition that has been kept in this nation since 1621, when the Pilgrims held a multi-day harvest feast with the Wampanoag people. There are far less beautiful aspects of this time in our young nation, but the holiday itself is rooted in acknowledging God’s goodness and provision. Thanksgiving was officially established by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, when many might have found it difficult to be thankful. Here is a short excerpt from his Thanksgiving proclamation, modernized slightly for readability:
“This year, now drawing to a close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthy skies. These gifts are so constant that we often forget the One from whom they come. Yet God has added even more—extraordinary blessings that are so remarkable they can’t help but reach and soften even the heart that is usually unaware of His ever- watchful providence…I invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States… to set aside and observe the last Thursday of November as a day of Thanksgiving and praise to our gracious Father who dwells in heaven. I also recommend that, while offering the praise that is rightly due Him for His extraordinary blessings and deliverance, we approach Him with humble repentance for our national sin and disobedience. Let us commend to His tender care all who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in this tragic civil conflict in which we are engaged, and earnestly ask for the Almighty to intervene, to heal the wounds of the nation, and to restore us—according to His divine purposes—to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility, and unity.”
The history of Thanksgiving is not rooted in overindulgence. It was established as a day to genuinely remember, as one people, the provision and protection of God. It was a day they were called to repentance for the past and prayer for the nation’s future. We are still gathering and celebrating today because God hears the prayers of His people. Every good thing we enjoy is because of His goodness!
However, the idea of offering thanksgiving to God has much deeper roots than our nation. Long before the first Pilgrims stepped foot in the New World, God’s people practiced thanksgiving as an act of worship. In the Old Testament, we read of multiple festivals God’s people were called to celebrate annually, as a reminder of various aspects of God’s goodness and faithfulness to them. There were sacrifices of thanksgiving that could be offered throughout the year as acts of gratitude and worship. Through everything, God reminded His people to remember and be thankful. When God brought His people into the promised land—after forty years of wandering in the wilderness—He warned them saying:
‘When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land He has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe His commands, His laws and His decrees that I am giving you this day. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your
herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery… You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me. But remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth”’ (Deuteronomy 8:10-14; 17-18).
We can never forget that every good thing we have to enjoy is because of His goodness, His faithfulness, His provision, and His love. James 1:17 says,
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”
In the Word of God, we see that gratitude has different expressions, but it is always expressed! Our thanksgiving could be praise. Hebrews 13:15 says,
“Through [Jesus] then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge His name.”
In Luke 17:11-19 we read of one leper out of ten who returned to Jesus to “offer praise” after he had been healed.
Our thanksgiving may be a gift to the Lord, above and beyond a tithe, like the thanksgiving offerings in the Word of God.
Our thanksgiving could also be an extravagant expression of worship, as in Luke 7:37-45, which says,
‘Behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that [Jesus] was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind Him at His feet, weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed His feet and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.”’
This woman didn’t care what people would think of her as she entered a home in which she didn’t belong. Her extravagant act of worship—washing Jesus’ feet with a flask of ointment and her own tears—was an act of love and gratitude. She cared only about Jesus, and He recognized her act of gratitude for what it was. In the verses that follow, Jesus rebuked the Pharisee who judged her (in his thoughts, by the way) and tied her extravagant love to the great forgiveness she received. He said, “he who is forgiven much, loves much.” We have to understand that we have all been forgiven much. That Pharisee had just as much to be forgiven for, because all sin separates us from God, but this woman was aware of her sinfulness and aware of the great mercy of God! Our love and gratitude will grow as we magnify the goodness and mercy of God.
So, as we celebrate Thanksgiving this week in many different ways, we encourage you to magnify Him! We encourage you to remember why we celebrate and the many reasons we have to be thankful. Psalm 107:1 says,
“Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever!” The expression may vary, but thanksgiving should always be rooted in the goodness of God, and our gratitude will usher us into God’s presence. Psalm 100:4 says,
“Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise! Give thanks to Him; bless His name!”
It has been 162 years since Abraham Lincoln made his Thanksgiving proclamation, but we still gather around tables in a nation blessed by God. It has been thousands of years since God commanded the Israelite people not to forget His goodness in their abundance, but He is the same God who blesses His people with healing, provision, and abundance in the places He’s called them to. He is still the God who hears and answers prayer, in covenant with His people by the blood of Jesus, and we have so much to be thankful for!
“This year, now drawing to a close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthy skies. These gifts are so constant that we often forget the One from whom they come. Yet God has added even more—extraordinary blessings that are so remarkable they can’t help but reach and soften even the heart that is usually unaware of His ever- watchful providence…I invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States… to set aside and observe the last Thursday of November as a day of Thanksgiving and praise to our gracious Father who dwells in heaven. I also recommend that, while offering the praise that is rightly due Him for His extraordinary blessings and deliverance, we approach Him with humble repentance for our national sin and disobedience. Let us commend to His tender care all who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in this tragic civil conflict in which we are engaged, and earnestly ask for the Almighty to intervene, to heal the wounds of the nation, and to restore us—according to His divine purposes—to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility, and unity.”
The history of Thanksgiving is not rooted in overindulgence. It was established as a day to genuinely remember, as one people, the provision and protection of God. It was a day they were called to repentance for the past and prayer for the nation’s future. We are still gathering and celebrating today because God hears the prayers of His people. Every good thing we enjoy is because of His goodness!
However, the idea of offering thanksgiving to God has much deeper roots than our nation. Long before the first Pilgrims stepped foot in the New World, God’s people practiced thanksgiving as an act of worship. In the Old Testament, we read of multiple festivals God’s people were called to celebrate annually, as a reminder of various aspects of God’s goodness and faithfulness to them. There were sacrifices of thanksgiving that could be offered throughout the year as acts of gratitude and worship. Through everything, God reminded His people to remember and be thankful. When God brought His people into the promised land—after forty years of wandering in the wilderness—He warned them saying:
‘When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land He has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe His commands, His laws and His decrees that I am giving you this day. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your
herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery… You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me. But remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth”’ (Deuteronomy 8:10-14; 17-18).
We can never forget that every good thing we have to enjoy is because of His goodness, His faithfulness, His provision, and His love. James 1:17 says,
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”
In the Word of God, we see that gratitude has different expressions, but it is always expressed! Our thanksgiving could be praise. Hebrews 13:15 says,
“Through [Jesus] then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge His name.”
In Luke 17:11-19 we read of one leper out of ten who returned to Jesus to “offer praise” after he had been healed.
Our thanksgiving may be a gift to the Lord, above and beyond a tithe, like the thanksgiving offerings in the Word of God.
Our thanksgiving could also be an extravagant expression of worship, as in Luke 7:37-45, which says,
‘Behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that [Jesus] was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind Him at His feet, weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed His feet and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.”’
This woman didn’t care what people would think of her as she entered a home in which she didn’t belong. Her extravagant act of worship—washing Jesus’ feet with a flask of ointment and her own tears—was an act of love and gratitude. She cared only about Jesus, and He recognized her act of gratitude for what it was. In the verses that follow, Jesus rebuked the Pharisee who judged her (in his thoughts, by the way) and tied her extravagant love to the great forgiveness she received. He said, “he who is forgiven much, loves much.” We have to understand that we have all been forgiven much. That Pharisee had just as much to be forgiven for, because all sin separates us from God, but this woman was aware of her sinfulness and aware of the great mercy of God! Our love and gratitude will grow as we magnify the goodness and mercy of God.
So, as we celebrate Thanksgiving this week in many different ways, we encourage you to magnify Him! We encourage you to remember why we celebrate and the many reasons we have to be thankful. Psalm 107:1 says,
“Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever!” The expression may vary, but thanksgiving should always be rooted in the goodness of God, and our gratitude will usher us into God’s presence. Psalm 100:4 says,
“Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise! Give thanks to Him; bless His name!”
It has been 162 years since Abraham Lincoln made his Thanksgiving proclamation, but we still gather around tables in a nation blessed by God. It has been thousands of years since God commanded the Israelite people not to forget His goodness in their abundance, but He is the same God who blesses His people with healing, provision, and abundance in the places He’s called them to. He is still the God who hears and answers prayer, in covenant with His people by the blood of Jesus, and we have so much to be thankful for!
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