Say, just because Thanksgiving day is over, don’t think you can stop being thankful. According to God, thanksgiving isn’t a holiday—it is a perpetual attitude of life.
Let me begin today by asking you a sensitive question. What do you think about raising hands in church when you pray or when you sing? Well, this is a big issue with some. It seems that Charimatics do it, and Conservative Evangelicals don’t. But, regardless of where you are on this subject, you need to know that the Hebrew word for “thanksgiving” literally means, “an extension of the hand.” Psalm 100 is the “Psalm of Thanksgiving”, and in verse four it says, “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving.”
“Thanksgiving” is the Hebrew word, “todah, and it means “a confession of thanks.” This word, however, comes from the Hebrew verb, “yadah” which means “to use the hand.” Yad is the Hebrew word for “hand.” So yadah is to use the hand or to hold out the hand.
Often when we say “thank you” to someone, we hold out our hand as a gesture of our appreciation. This appears to be a carryover form the ancient custom of raising the hand as an expression of thanks. Now the point is not whether or not you literally extend your hands; it’s what is in your heart that counts. Thanksgiving is, first of all, an attitude—not an action.
Hey—do you have an attitude of gratitude? Or do you just have an attitude?
For further study, see: Attitude of Gratitude