The month of November contains the national holiday of Thanksgiving. How many of us see it
only as an extra day off from work-likely a four-day weekend-an opportunity for family gatherings with an array of foods? How many of us fail to give thanks for the many things that have been bestowed upon us? Paul wrote to the Thessalonians:
"In every thing give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."
Most of the time we do not hesitate to ask our Heavenly Father for help-to overcome illness or disease, to find a job, to be protected and kept in safety,, to successfully pass a test, to be inspired in our callings, etc. These requests are appropriate because He desires to bless His children. He, of course, wants us to do our part.
After receiving His help, do we show the appropriate thankfulness? The Lord has declared through revelation:
"Thou shalt thank the Lord thy God in all things" (Doctrine & Covenants 59:7). those who fail to properly give thanks for the blessings will suffer the consequences, also recorded in Section 59 (verse 21):
"And in nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things...".
President Gordon B. Hinckley noted:
"Our society is afflicted by a thoughtless arrogance unbecoming those who have been so magnificently blessed. How grateful we should be for the bounties we enjoy. Absence of gratitude is the mark of the narrow, uneducated mind..." (Ensign, August 1968).
