Is Celebrating Thanksgiving Day in the Bible?

Read Ephesians 5:1-21 meditatively.

Recently, I read an article stating that Thanksgiving isn’t a biblical holiday because the Bible does not mention it. I laughed out loud! At best, this is a shallow assessment! Okay, I admit, technically, it is correct to say that the Bible doesn’t mention the American holiday we call Thanksgiving. On the other hand, that is only a surface-level statement. To argue such is to narrow the Christian's call to develop thankfulness to God in the home to the shores of America. That Thanksgiving Day was made an American national holiday is a thing to be commended, not critiqued. It is important to recognize that the practice of setting aside a day for giving thanks to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was already well established among the Christian Separatists we call “the Pilgrims.” My intention here is not to prop up the American holiday of Thanksgiving but to encourage Christians to grasp their calling to be the people in this fallen world who are characterized by giving thanks to the true and living God (1 Chronicles 16; Luke 17:18; Philippians 4:6) and to practice this act of worship in their homes and in the church buildings. 

It matters not if the American holiday we call Thanksgiving is derived from the Bible; the spirit of it is present on every page. The feast days of the Old Testament were not meant to be merely special “holy days” (Colossians 2:16-19). These divinely appointed special days were instituted by God to teach His people how to worship Him and seek Him for salvation. God’s people, Israel, were to be different from the people groups around them. Their worship was different. Their beliefs were different. Their relationships were different. Their home life was different. This is true because their God was different. God’s people do not take their direction from the surrounding culture, which the Apostle Paul says is not “thankful” (Romans 1:21-22). God’s redeemed people take their instructions from God’s revelation found in His Word, the Bible (John 17:13-19; 18:37). 

It is my prayer for you that this year will be a year filled with thanksgiving to God and honoring Him for giving His Son, Jesus Christ, to be our offering for our sins and our Savior forever!

Love You All In Christ,

Pastor Scott