Each year the distinction between the winter holidays becomes more and more blurred. I remember as a little boy when people, in our neighborhood in Iowa, talked about those awful "big city" people who put up Christmas decorations so early they put them up more than a week before Christmas.

Both Thanksgiving and Christmas were founded by people of faith. The word holiday comes from a root that means "Holy days." Yet they have become so commercialized and secularized that society has little or no concern for their real meaning.

I. The "G" of Goodness (v. 34)

"O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His lovingkindness is everlasting."

Consider what God has done for you and me: the preservation of the Bible; our churches; our nation; our military and our law enforcement people who protect us; the Lord’s laborers who teach/guide us, and who labor in His vineyard; and our families. Like the food we eat, everything tastes better when we are grateful for receiving it!

Give thanks to Him, "And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful" (Col. 3:15).

II. The "G" of Gathering (v. 35a)

"Save us, O God of our salvation, and gather us and deliver us from the nations."

There is a story of two angels who were assigned the job of going to the earth to collect petitions and thanksgivings from the saints. The angel of petitions makes over 300 trips a year. And the angel of thanksgivings? Just one!

It seems we’ve turned Thanksgiving into a once-a-year-happening and a recognition of the obvious, the material, the temporal. Thanksgiving should be continuous, and primarily for the not-so-obvious, the eternal.

God brings out the best in us during tough times. He gathers us in a mysterious way, often testing us in life’s storms. But heavenly music is made in those storms.

III. The "G" of Glorifying (vv. 35b,36a)

What the Lord really wants is for His name to be made known among the nations. How do we do that? Through our public praise and testimony! Through the celebration of His being our God! Through sacrificial living!

Challenge: Thanksgiving ought to be a celebration of the gift of life through the great and good Giver of Life! We must give thanks to God: for who He is, for what He does, and for His majesty!