As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: 7 Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.  Col 2:6-7 

I thank God for the United State of America, for it was in America that I heard the Gospel.  I thank the Lord for those handful of pilgrims, who, against all odds, sailed the Atlantic ocean with God as their captain and came to America that winter of 1620 where nearly half o them died that first winter in order to freely serve Jesus Christ.

They laid their lives on the line for the Gospel and for the glory of God.  They forsook all and followed Christ.  And we today are the beneficiaries of their sacrifice.  I thank God for America.  No nation on earth today has had the good and Godly heritage that we enjoy!  And so let us be “abounding therein with thanksgiving” to our Lord.

We love this time of year when we pause to “give thanks.”  And that is good.  This is a wonderful time of year.  We hear people say, “I’m just so thankful . . . I’m thankful for this or that . . . .”  And that is fine, but to whom are we thankful?

The word “thanks” is defined as–“An expression of gratitude; grateful acknowledgement of something received by or done for one.”  And so may our expression of gratitude be always directed to our God and our Savior.  May I leave you just a small sampling of the many, many admonitions of Scripture to give thanks to God:

Sing unto the Lord, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness. 5 For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning . . . . 12 To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever.   Psalm 30:4-5, 12

 I will give thee thanks in the great congregation: I will praise thee among much people.  Psalm 35:18 

 Unto thee, O God, do we give thanks, unto thee do we give thanks: for that thy name is near thy wondrous works declare.  Psalm 75:1 

 So we thy people and sheep of thy pasture will give thee thanks for ever: we will shew forth thy praise to all generations.  Psalm 79:13

 It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High: 2 To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night,  Psalm 92:1-2