ENTERING HIS GATES WITH THANKSGIVING

Have you ever thought about the benefits of giving thanks to God? There are many. I think the most prominent of them is simply closeness to God. We enter His gates with thanksgiving. We come into his presence in praise.

In Leviticus 7 Moses was told to institute a feast of thanksgiving. The barbeque was identified as a “fellowship offering of thanksgiving." We certainly enjoy fellowship with family and guests in our celebration of the Thanksgiving Holiday. If you are separated or estranged from family at Thanksgiving, you will miss your loved ones more than the turkey and dressing. We fellowship around the Thanksgiving table, by the warmth of the fire or in front of the TV watching football or the Macy’s Parade. But the fellowship spoken of in Leviticus 7 was with God Himself. The King James Bible translates it as a “peace offering.” The feast was to initiate and celebrate peaceful fellowship with God.

As we gather together to celebrate Thanksgiving, we also draw near to the person of God to whom with give thanks. It is fellowship with Him that blesses our Thanksgiving table and the fellowship with one another around it.