Thanksgiving Thought for November

A Wrong Kind of Thankful

Did you ever consider that there could be a wrong kind of thankful? This was a Thanksgiving thought I had not considered. I hadn’t really thought of it much. All my life I was told to be thankful for things, so I was. The Bible says be thankful, so I was. (Let me make it clear that I’ve not been perfectly thankful all the time. I’m sure you could have already guessed that.) So, how could “being thankful” possibly ever be wrong?

This week, I was challenged by this Thanksgiving thought. There is a correct “thankful,” and it’s worthy of our attention. Many years in the past, our family has shared around the dinner table at Thanksgiving, each person telling of one thing they’re thankful for. I thought it was great. But looking at it now, I was missing something really important.

What Was Missing?

I was missing the object of our thankfulness. It’s not enough to be thankful for our family if we don’t know WHOM we are thanking. We can be thankful for our food, shelter, family, and friends, and many specific blessings, but if we’re not directing our thanks to somebody or something, it means very little. In fact, if we are thanking the tree for its shade, and no more, it is worship of the creation instead of the Creator. 

A Thanksgiving Thought

So this Thanksgiving, I plan to be mindful of this. I will not be thankful to an unknown source. I won’t be thankful to the creation instead of the Creator. And they won’t be thankful to “nobody.” Because that’s what being thankful without an object is– it is being thankful to nobody.

So my wish for you is a very happy Thanksgiving in which you are thankful to God of the Bible. Join me in being thankful to the God who has created us, redeemed us, provides for us, and loves us from eternity past through eternity future. And this Thanksgiving thought is what we want to teach our kids.  

Here is a post about thanking God for things we often don’t thank Him for. Maybe it will trigger more Thanksgiving thought for your prayer time.

Would you click below and tell Whom you are thankful to and also for what you are thankful this year? Thanks! It would mean a lot to me and others! 

Laurie Donahue is an author and speaker who lives in Southern California. She has written or co-written 6 books for children and teens, including the bestseller, "God Should I Be Baptized?" She holds a California Community College Teaching Credential. Laurie's website is www.lauriedonahue.com.

Leave comments or questions below. Laurie and others reading would love to hear what you think. Thanks!

3 thoughts on “Thanksgiving Thought for November

  1. I have found myself increasingly thankful for God. Living in a world going sour without Him, I thank Him for being truly good. He is worthy of our worship when nothing else is. I thank Him for His justice and His mercy, His patience and His promised judgment. I thank Him for being forgiving. I thank Him for being self-sacrificing in expressing His amazing love. I thank Him for being holy and still overflowing with grace.

    Laurie, thank you for reminding us to direct our thanks, not to “nobody” but to the One who deserves unending thanks! This post was a super way to launch this day. I thank God for YOU.

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