Thanksgiving

The word “thanksgiving” is used numerous times in the scriptures.  Here are some of my favorite references:

·         “Live in thanksgiving daily, for the many mercies and blessings which he doth bestow upon you” (Alma 34:38).

·         “Inasmuch as ye do these things thanksgiving, with cheerful hearts and countenances... the fulness of the earth is yours” (D&C 59:16).

·         “Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High” (Psalms 50:14).

·         “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving” (Colossians 2:7). 

·         “Yea, [Moroni was] a man whose heart did swell with thanksgiving to his God, for the many privileges and blessings which he bestowed upon his people” (Alma 48:12). 

In that last reference, the next sentence says that Moroni “did labor exceedingly for the welfare and safety of his people.”  I think that those are connected: because Moroni’s heart did swell with thanksgiving to God, he labored exceedingly for his people.  Ultimately that’s what gratitude should do for us: as we understand and appreciate the great blessings that the Lord has bestowed upon us, we will want to serve Him and help those around us.  Moroni realized how blessed the Nephites were in the freedoms they enjoyed and in their religion, and so that inspired him to give his all in service of his people as he tried to defend them.  Similarly, Ammon showed great gratitude to the Lord for His mercy, and this led him to spend fourteen years preaching the gospel among the Lamanites.  He expressed his feelings this way: “Now this is my joy, and my great thanksgiving; yea, and I will give thanks unto my God forever” (Alma 26:37).  Perhaps as we think about our own gratitude to the Lord this Thanksgiving, we might ask ourselves not only what we are thankful for, but who can serve as an expression of our thanks.