What does the Bible say about thanksgiving?
The Daily Article
The Denison Forum
4.9 • 576 Ratings
🗓️ 23 November 2020
⏱️ 5 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The holiday of Thanksgiving is, of course, a time to give thanks. But is thankfulness the will of God no matter our circumstances? Why is the act of giving thanks so important? Why do many people fail to practice thankfulness? And why does the Bible require us to give thanks "in all circumstances"?
In this bonus episode of The Daily Article Podcast, Dr. Jim Denison answers these questions as he describes what the Bible says about thanksgiving.
To watch or share these biblical insights, subscribe to the Denison Forum YouTube channel at youtube.com/denisonforum.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | You're listening to a bonus episode of the Daily Article podcast. |
| 0:05.0 | Over the next five to ten minutes, you'll hear Dr. Denison discuss what the Bible says about a particular topic. |
| 0:11.0 | To watch or share these biblical insights, subscribe to the Denison Forum YouTube channel at |
| 0:17.0 | YouTube.com forward slash Denison Forum. Hello, my name is Chris Elkins and I am with Denison Forum and I'm here today with Dr. Jim Denison. |
| 0:27.6 | Jim, it's that season of the year that the word Thanksgiving is on the minds of all of us as we approach such a big holiday. |
| 0:34.6 | But I'll have a question to ask you. Is it fair to say that Thanksgiving |
| 0:40.4 | is the will of God no matter our service? It's a great question, especially these days, right? |
| 0:46.9 | Given what's going on in the world, given what happens really across this fallen world on a given |
| 0:52.3 | basis on an annual basis, but especially in difficult |
| 0:55.4 | times. When we look around at ourselves, we think, well, isn't that naive? Isn't that kind of |
| 0:59.8 | a ridiculous thing to have this idea that we should be genuinely thankful at a day like this? |
| 1:05.2 | And yet, really, when you think about it, Thanksgiving is the only American holiday anyway |
| 1:09.0 | that's mandated by Scripture. The Bible nowhere |
| 1:11.9 | requires us to celebrate the birth of Jesus. In fact, it was a long time into Christian history |
| 1:17.0 | before Christians began actually doing that. The Bible doesn't even require us to celebrate the |
| 1:21.9 | resurrection of Jesus as a specific day, a specific holiday. Every Sunday is the Lord's Day in celebrating the fact that our Lord rose from the dead on a Sunday. |
| 1:31.3 | Fourth of July obviously isn't in the Bible anywhere, Mother's Day, Father's Day. |
| 1:35.5 | You can find biblical references to those principles, but as a holiday as it were, as an expression specifically, |
| 1:41.8 | 1st Thessalonians 518 says give thanks in all circumstances. |
| 1:46.2 | That's a present tense imperative in the Greek. When it says give thanks, it could be translated |
| 1:50.9 | continually give thanks. And again, it's an order. It's an imperative. And it says in all circumstances, |
| 1:57.7 | not just when your year is going well, not just when you're feeling well, not just |
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