What the Sabbath Teaches Us About Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is upon us. In this article, I want to explore a little slice of what the Bible says about gratitude, but to get there, we need to start with the Old Testament Sabbath commands.

Two Sabbath Commandments

I’ve always been fascinated by the fact that the two lists of the Ten Commandments, in Exodus 20 and then again in Deuteronomy 5, are slightly different. Not that the commandments themselves are different, but some of the phrasing and explanations do vary. Specifically, and of interest for our purposes, the commandment of the Sabbath is presented in two rather different ways.

In Exodus 20, after the commandment, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy,” as well as an explanation of the implications (“you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant…”), the rationale for the Sabbath is given in verse 11. “For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy” (Exod. 20:11). The Sabbath here is tied directly to God’s creation of the world.

In Deuteronomy 5, we find the same general wording for the commandment itself, but the rationale given is different: “You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day” (Deut. 5:15). In this version, the people of God are commanded to remember their former slavery and the great deliverance that YHWH brought about—the exodus.

Both rationales have been important in informing and shaping my own practices of Sabbath. I’m not a strict Sabbatarian, but I think wisdom is living with the grain of created order, and the regular rhythm of Sabbath rest, as we just saw in Exodus 20, is a pattern deeply embedded in creation.

So how does all this relate to Thanksgiving? Because Thanksgiving, as a holiday, is a kind of societal Sabbath, a shared day of rest. And for Christians, days of rest should at least partially be, as saw in Deuteronomy 5:15, a time to remember the great deeds of the Lord. That act of remembering leads naturally to gratitude and joy.

The pattern then is clear: we cease working, we gather and feast, we remember what God has done and all he has provided for us, and we give thanks with joy.

Gratitude Is Commanded

This all sounds quite nice and wholesome, but if we’re honest, we often see this pattern of remembering and gratitude as optional. Life is busy, after all, and so if we manage to find a bit of time to slow down and be grateful, we think we’re doing quite well and God must be rather pleased.

But a closer look at the Scriptures reveals that God sees remembering—and the giving of thanks it leads to—as non-optional. Repeatedly we find that God’s Word commands us to remember, to not forget, and to give thanks and praise to God (see Deut. 8:10; 26:1-11; Pss. 50:14, 23; 100:4; 1 Thess. 5:18; Eph. 5:20). On the other hand, God holds his people accountable when they forget (see Deut. 28:47-48; Hos. 13:6).

We can be tempted to think that forgetting is not something we can be culpable for. My kids often think this way. “Why didn’t you do the thing I told you three times you had to do today?” “Oh, well, I forgot,” they reply, as if that settles it. “Well,” I say, “not forgetting was the job, and you failed.” (Follow me for more parenting advice.)

Gratitude Leads to Joy

That God commands us to praise and thank him for all his benefits and mercies does not reveal an insecure neediness in him. Rather, it’s a reminder that he knows what we need better than we do. Our stubborn self-centredness combines with our blindness to convince us that focusing on ourselves is the path to happiness. We do not easily imagine that turning away from self is what we need, and that self-forgetfulness is delightful.

In other words, it is good for us to practise praise and gratitude—to give thanks to the Giver of all good gifts. It leads to joy.

This Thanksgiving, heed the words of Deuteronomy 5 and “remember that you were a slave” to sin, and that “the LORD your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm.” Ponder the mercies and patience and generous goodness of the Lord to you, and then extend that gratitude to those in your life, thanking them and noticing all the ways they have been a blessing.

If you do this, mark my words—you will find yourself filled with joy.

Happy Thanksgiving.