The Real First Thanksgiving
By Rick Warren
“Celebrate the Harvest Festival, to honor the LORD your God, by bringing him a freewill offering in proportion to the blessing he has given you.” Deuteronomy 16:10 (GNT)
The gathering most Americans think of as the first Thanksgiving happened 400 years ago.
But 3,000 years before that, God told the nation of Israel to establish a thanksgiving festival called the Feast of Weeks. They were to celebrate God's goodness and express their gratitude to him by bringing him a special, annual thanksgiving offering.
Deuteronomy 16:10-11 says, “Celebrate the Harvest Festival, to honor the LORD your God, by bringing him a freewill offering in proportion to the blessing he has given you . . . Do this at the one place of worship” (GNT).
On this original day of thanksgiving, the Israelites were to bring a gift of thanksgiving to the place of thanksgiving—the temples where they worshipped. This thanksgiving offering has been practiced by God's people for thousands of years and is mentioned many times in Scripture.
God says in Psalm 50:23, “Those people honor me who bring me offerings to show thanks. And I, God, will save those who do that” (NCV).
The Bible tells us many times what kind of offering we should give: We are to give God the first part of our income—not the leftovers. We should put God first in our finances.
Anytime you give an offering to God, it represents three kinds of gratitude: past, present, and future. Your offering shows gratitude for God's blessing in the past and his blessing today and faith in God's continued blessing in the future. God always honors faith with his blessing.
In the Bible, there are more promises attached to faithful giving and generosity than any other subject. Why? Because God wants his children to be like him. And he is a generous God!
Jesus says in Luke 6:38, “If you give, you will get! Your gift will return to you in full and overflowing measure, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, and running over. Whatever measure you use to give—large or small—will be used to measure what is given back to you” (TLB).
If you’ve trusted Jesus to forgive your sin and save your soul, then you can trust God to keep his promise to take care of you. Your thanksgiving offering shows God that you trust him for all things and at all times.
PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick
For more Daily Hope with Rick Warren, please visit pastorrick.com!
Discover God’s Answers to Life’s Tough Questions!
What’s the best way to cope with stress? Rebound from failure? Defeat depression? Or have peace of mind?
Pastor Rick shares the answers to these tough questions and much more in his book God’s Answers to Life’s Difficult Questions.
In it, Pastor Rick takes you to God’s Word for answers to twelve of life’s toughest questions, drawing from the examples of people in the Bible who faced the same challenges we face today.
God’s Answers to Life’s Difficult Questions is our thanks for your gift to help reach more people through Daily Hope—so request your copy of this transformative resource when you give below.
Thank you for your support!
*The USA IRS code permits you to deduct the amount of your financial gift to Daily Hope that exceeds the fair market value of materials you received from Daily Hope.
This devotional © 2018 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
You can listen to Rick Warren on OnePlace.com.
