Offer a Sacrifice of Thanksgiving

"And when you offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the LORD, offer it of your own free will."

Leviticus 22:29

Under the Law of Moses when people wanted to give thanks to God, it meant more than mere words.  People sacrificed a clean animal of thanksgiving to the LORD, a peace offering they and others were partakers of.  It was a sacrifice freely offered, not with an expectation to receive, but out of thanksgiving for all God had already said, had given and performed.  A sacrifice of thanksgiving could be costly monetarily but it was a joy to give to God in light of God's generosity and goodness to supply the gift and all else in the first place.

Freedom in giving thanks to God springs from faith in God and His worthiness.  It is fitting a day such as Thanksgiving in the United States has been established in a nation under God.  It is even more appropriate every day be filled with thanksgiving to God for every person redeemed by grace through faith, given eternal life and everything that pertains to life and godliness.  David sang in Psalm 69:30-31, "I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify Him with thanksgiving. ³¹ This also shall please the LORD better than an ox or bull, which has horns and hooves."  God does not appreciate a gift based upon the resale value but by the willing soul who thanks, loves and trusts Him.

Songs like Psalm 100:1-5 even in dreary times have the power to turn our faces to the LORD with thanksgiving like a flower leans toward the light of the sun:  "Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands! ² Serve the LORD with gladness; come before His presence with singing. ³ Know that the LORD, He is God; it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture. ⁴ Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. ⁵ For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations."  The LORD has been good to us, He is good and will ever be.  God does not demand our thanks, but He deserves our undying thanksgiving now and forever.