[Steve Myers] Seems like there’s all kinds of songs that we associate with the holidays – some of them aren’t so good. But I got to thinking about that in relationship to Thanksgiving. Do you know any really cool Thanksgiving songs?

I had a hard time thinking of any. But the Bible points to probably the kind of song and the kind of thanksgiving that we should always have.

There’s a wonderful song, it’s in the Psalms, which are songs. In fact, it has the title, “A Song of Thanksgiving”. See if you recognize it. Here’s the lyrics. “Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!” In other words, the whole earth is supposed to sing praises to God. It says, “Serve the Lord with gladness; come before His presence with singing. 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.” What a great reminder as we begin the lyrics of this song to show who is most important in our life – our relationship with God and all that He does. And because of that, the song goes on – verse 4. “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name” (Psalm 100:1-5).

It frames the issue that this isn’t something we should just think about for one Thursday at the end of November. That shouldn’t be the way that it is. We shouldn’t just hurry on into Black Friday and forget the whole Thanksgiving thing. It shouldn’t be like that, not if we claim to be God’s people. This tells us pretty clearly – this is an ongoing thing. It says, “For the Lord is good, His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations.

So let’s have this frame of mind, not just for a day or two at the end of November, but let this be something that is on our mind constantly – that we’re continually coming into His presence, worshipping Him, praising Him, honoring Him, having a thought of really singing and praising and honoring God and being truly thankful for much more than just one day in November.

That’s BT Daily. We’ll see you next time.