Unconditional Thanksgiving Series

In the spring of 1621, after having landed at Plymouth and survived the first hard winter, the Pilgrims weren’t doing very well. Many people died during the winter. Two Native Americans named Squanto and Samorset, helped the Pilgrims learn how to survive in the new land by showing them farming techniques and by teaching them how to gather certain natural foods from the forest. By the fall things had greatly improved, and the Pilgrims had such an abundance of food that they decided to celebrate with a feast of thanksgiving.(1)

The Pilgrims celebrated by giving thanks unto God for His provisions. Today, Thanksgiving appears to be the only time that some people give Him thanks; but the Lord wants us to thank Him each and every day of our lives. At all times and in every situation of life, God wants us to do as Paul said in Ephesians 5:20, in which he declared, “Give thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Think for a moment. Is our thanksgiving rooted in an overwhelming praise unto God for our salvation? Or is our thanks rooted in earthly things? Do we rejoice in the God of our salvation as our strength? The question is really this: If the worst thing we could possibly imagine were to become true for us today, could we say “Yet, I will rejoice in the Lord, I will give thanks to the God of my salvation?”

The Thanksgiving holiday can be a misleading time, because some people will think that this is the only time to give thanks unto God. We need to understand that Thanksgiving is not just a day, but a lifestyle. It is the life that we are called to live in Jesus Christ. If we say “thank you” today, if we put on a thankful appearance on one day, but that one day is not an accurate representation of our lives, then we are not truthful before God. We should be thankful each and every day! If our thankfulness is rooted only in God’s “gifts,” but not in God “Himself,” then our thanksgiving is shallow and superficial. We must learn to rejoice in the Lord and take joy in the God of our salvation. We must learn to give thanks always, and in all things. Our thanksgiving must be rooted in God himself.

The prophet Habakkuk provides us with an example of someone who understood “unconditional thanksgiving,” which is the kind of thanksgiving we should demonstrate. Let’s take a look at Habakkuk and see what we can learn from this man of great faith concerning giving thanks unto God.

Rejoice in the Lord Always (Habakkuk 3:17-19)

17 Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines; though the labor of the olive may fail, and the fields yield no food; though the flock may be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls— 18 Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.19 The LORD God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer’s feet, and He will make me walk on my high hills.

Before we get started, we need to understand the context behind what the prophet was saying. Commentator Warren Wiersbe says, “This is one of the greatest confessions of faith found anywhere in the Scripture. Habakkuk has faced the frightening fact that his nation will be invaded by a merciless enemy [which is Babylon]. The prophet knows that many of the people will go into exile and many will be slain. The land will be ruined, and Jerusalem and the temple will be destroyed. Yet, he tells God that he will trust Him no matter what happens!”

“If Habakkuk had depended on his feelings, he would have never made this great confession of faith. [When] Habakkuk looked ahead, he saw a nation headed for destruction and that frightened him. When he looked within, he saw himself trembling with fear, and when he looked around, he saw everything in the economy about to fall apart. But when he looked up by faith, he saw God, and all his fears vanished.”(2)

Right here, we see that Habakkuk was thankful to the Lord even though there would be a lack of food and his physical needs might not have been met. These verses represent unconditional thanksgiving! The word “unconditional” means not dependent on, or conditioned by any external thing, but rooted in God alone, rooted in the experience of the wonder of salvation. Our thanksgiving unto the Lord should be unconditional, just as God’s love for His people is unconditional.

God’s love for Israel was definitely unconditional, as is His love for us. In Deuteronomy 7:7-8 we read, “The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; but because the LORD loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.” The Lord did not deliver Israel from Egypt because He was pleased with the amount of people. Israel was not that great in number. He chose Israel because He was faithful to the promise He had made that He would make of Israel a great nation. God is always faithful and ever loving.