Romans 1:21
“For even though they knew God (as Creator), they didn’t honor Him as God or give thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.”

As Americans gather for Thanksgiving day, hanging out with the family and enjoying all the food, blissfully content amidst the wealthiest nation the world has ever seen, we likely have no idea of the danger at hand. Indeed, it’s this day – Thanksgiving – that could very well be the most sinful of days in the country. It’s important for Christians to understand the enormity of the forces at work.

First, as evidenced from the above passage, the sin of thanklessness goes hand and hand with the refusal to acknowledge God. The two are literally inseparable. To know God is to be thankful to Him for life, the world and everything in it. Many Christians are confused in their theology on this point and think merely that sin is an outward act such as lying or some sexual sin or another. Those are indeed sins but they proceed, as we see from the rest of Romans 1, from a heart that’s intent on “suppressing the truth about God.” In other words, sin starts in the heart that refuses to acknowledge Him and give Him thanks. That’s the root of iniquity. If you’re having trouble with a particular sin, slow things down and watch the run-up to your failing. What you’ll notice is a deliberate act of suppression of the presence and knowledge of God leading up to the sin.

A persistent sin in the life of a Christian comes from a heart that’s not content, which is to say isn’t rejoicing in the Lord and His provision. Godly contentment is the antidote for all sin. The soul that says with the Psalmist that “the law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul” will see sin as the counterfeit joy that it truly is. Would a thirsty man drink down a glass of poison when he has ice-cold water? The great deception is that sin convinces us that we need it! And to fall for this we must first suppress the knowledge and presence of God and cease to give Him thanks.

This brings us to our main point, which is that all people everywhere are called to worship and give thanks to God. The apostle Paul says that unbelievers are “without excuse” because God has made plain to them His reality – specifically, His divine nature and eternal power. Yes, these are clearly perceived. How? Through the things that He’s made – creation. The great lie of the world is that unbelief is rational and this is based on the lie that God hasn’t declared His glory through the heavens (Psalm 19:1).

What makes Thanksgiving a day of great sin for the unbelieving person is the fact that they’re acknowledging the necessity of giving thanks but giving it to something other than God. In this way, the day becomes a day of great idolatry. We think of Aaron leading the Israelites in idolatrous worship while Moses was up the mountain. Indeed, they intended to worship God but decided to do it on their own terms. We remember that for this great act of idolatry, of making God what they wanted rather than who He is, God threatened to wipe them out totally. Do we dare think, therefore, that this is a small issue? Do we dare tempt the Lord by giving thanks “in general” or rattle off insipidly about “being thankful for our blessings” without naming the God through whom those blessings have surely come?

We remember in 2 Samuel 12 when the prophet Nathan confronted King David over his egregious sin of adultery and murder that the Lord listed earthly blessings He’d rained down upon David. He said, “And if this were too little, I would add to you as much more. Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in His sight? (2 Samuel 12:8-9). So, we see the incredible danger of thanklessness and how it’s connected to idolatry. David’s manifold blessings weren’t enough for him apparently. He’d grown bored and spiritually listless, which in his case led to that rooftop shame and cast him into ignominy.

It’s true that many non-believers are giving thanks today. But to what? Or, more to the point, to whom? By being thankful they acknowledge that the law of the Lord is written on their heart (Romans 2:14-15) but they refuse to respond to Him and, as is their duty, their life’s purpose, express gratitude to Him. Instead, some add insult to the grave sin by thanking “Mother Earth” or some other vague and contradictory false god they’ve conjured up in their mind. This is a horrific sin for one person but utterly catastrophic for a nation.

The good news is, of course, that our Lord is rich in mercy if we repent and turn to Him. It’s certainly true that the first Thanksgiving of the pilgrims (and later with George Washington) were expressly Christian. Today, however, American secularism and consumerism have radically altered our understanding and practice of the day. Christians must reject these sinful encroachments and turn their attention to the Lord who has provided so richly for us and give Him praise and thanks. We must reject the false worldly notions of celebrating thanksgiving in a vague or materialistic fashion and instead mark it off as a day of worship and adoration of the Lord Jesus Christ lest we dabble in false worship. Whether you watch football games or not isn’t the issue. The issue is one of the heart and the Christian heart finds its great and abiding joy in praising and contemplating the Lord Jesus Christ. The greater our spiritual maturity, the greater the stench of false worship will repulse us and the more we’ll regard vague thankfulness as nothing of the sort.

So, yes, today we rejoice in the many material blessings we enjoy. We do this, however, in light of the incredible spiritual blessings we have in Christ. And we pray for our country that has turned this great day of praise to the living God into a pagan feast of materialism and self-indulgence.