Give thanks to God!

Today is Thanksgiving, a day when people are supposed to pause and remember everything for which they are thankful.  In any typical conversation, thankfulness is expressed by saying "thank you" to whichever person you are grateful.  Thanksgiving should be no different.  We shouldn't just make broad, nebulous statements of gratefulness without attributing those thanks to someone.

Specifically, we need to give thanks to God.

Scripture teaches:

give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 (ESV)

But this is not a call for vague, undirected feelings of gratefulness, as scripture further instructs:

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.
James 1:17 (ESV)

Taken together, these verses show that we should attribute all thanks to God, because everything good comes directly from Him.  And while it is good to give thanks for material blessings--providence of food and shelter, family and loved ones, etc.--there is something more important to remember and praise God for giving to us:

Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!
2 Corinthians 9:15 (ESV)

This gift is what was mentioned immediately before in the passage:

the surpassing grace of God upon you.
2 Corinthians 9:14b (ESV)

God's inexpressible gift was also described further when scripture states:

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23 (ESV)

Salvation in Christ is the most important gift that God has given to us.  It surpasses all material blessings that we have in life.  Above everything else, we must give thanks and praise to God for His eternal salvation.  This is true not only on Thanksgiving but every day we live.  Day in and day out, we ought to be like the psalmist who sings thanksgiving to God for His incredible salvation from sin and death:

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
    for his steadfast love endures forever!
Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
    whom he has redeemed from trouble
and gathered in from the lands,
    from the east and from the west,
    from the north and from the south.

Some wandered in desert wastes,

    finding no way to a city to dwell in;
hungry and thirsty,
    their soul fainted within them.
Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
    and he delivered them from their distress.
He led them by a straight way
    till they reached a city to dwell in.
Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
    for his wondrous works to the children of man!
For he satisfies the longing soul,
    and the hungry soul he fills with good things.

Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death,
    prisoners in affliction and in irons,
for they had rebelled against the words of God,
    and spurned the counsel of the Most High.
So he bowed their hearts down with hard labor;
    they fell down, with none to help.
Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
    and he delivered them from their distress.
He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death,
    and burst their bonds apart.
Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
    for his wondrous works to the children of man!
For he shatters the doors of bronze
    and cuts in two the bars of iron.

Some were fools through their sinful ways,
    and because of their iniquities suffered affliction;
they loathed any kind of food,
    and they drew near to the gates of death.
Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
    and he delivered them from their distress.
He sent out his word and healed them,
    and delivered them from their destruction.
Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
    for his wondrous works to the children of man!
And let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving,
    and tell of his deeds in songs of joy!

Some went down to the sea in ships,
    doing business on the great waters;
they saw the deeds of the Lord,
    his wondrous works in the deep.
For he commanded and raised the stormy wind,
    which lifted up the waves of the sea.
They mounted up to heaven; they went down to the depths;
    their courage melted away in their evil plight;
they reeled and staggered like drunken men
    and were at their wits' end.
Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
    and he delivered them from their distress.
He made the storm be still,
    and the waves of the sea were hushed.
Then they were glad that the waters were quiet,
    and he brought them to their desired haven.
Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
    for his wondrous works to the children of man!
Let them extol him in the congregation of the people,
    and praise him in the assembly of the elders.

He turns rivers into a desert,
    springs of water into thirsty ground,
a fruitful land into a salty waste,
    because of the evil of its inhabitants.
He turns a desert into pools of water,
    a parched land into springs of water.
And there he lets the hungry dwell,
    and they establish a city to live in;
they sow fields and plant vineyards
    and get a fruitful yield.
By his blessing they multiply greatly,
    and he does not let their livestock diminish.

When they are diminished and brought low
    through oppression, evil, and sorrow,
he pours contempt on princes
    and makes them wander in trackless wastes;
but he raises up the needy out of affliction
    and makes their families like flocks.
The upright see it and are glad,
    and all wickedness shuts its mouth.

Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things;
    let them consider the steadfast love of the Lord.
Psalm 107 (ESV)

If you do not know this salvation, God invites you to repent, trust Christ, and receive mercy:

“Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord:
though your sins are like scarlet,
    they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson,
    they shall become like wool.
If you are willing and obedient,
    you shall eat the good of the land;
but if you refuse and rebel,
    you shall be eaten by the sword;
    for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
Isaiah 1:18-20 (ESV)

On this Thanksgiving, to whom are you giving thanks?  And for what?  May it be that you are praising the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ for the redemption He bought for us with His own blood!