Live in Thanksgiving Daily

The word thanksgiving appears six times in the Book of Mormon. The first comes from the words of Isaiah: “For the Lord shall comfort Zion, he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving and the voice of melody” (2 Nephi 8:3). To me this suggests that an important ingredient to Zion is gratitude. A feeling of thanksgiving and joy will always be a part of a Zion culture. Another passage describes what should be the focus of our thanksgiving: “And the earth did cleave together again, that it stood; and the mourning, and the weeping, and the wailing of the people who were spared alive did cease; and their mourning was turned into joy, and their lamentations into the praise and thanksgiving unto the Lord Jesus Christ, their Redeemer” (3 Nephi 10:10). This people were able to turn their sorrow into joy as they focused on Jesus Christ. After hearing His voice in the darkness, they felt to praise and give thanks for Him who said to them, “Yea, verily I say unto you, if ye will come unto me ye shall have eternal life. Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who come unto me” (3 Nephi 9:14). Likewise our gratitude should be focused on our Redeemer whose arm of mercy is likewise extended to us.

               Two important figures in the book of Alma showed a spirit of thanksgiving for us to emulate. Mormon described Captain Moroni this way: “Yea, a man whose heart did swell with thanksgiving to his God, for the many privileges and blessings which he bestowed upon his people; a man who did labor exceedingly for the welfare and safety of his people” (Alma 48:12). Despite the terrible challenges that he faced during the war, Moroni still had a heart full of thanksgiving to God. And that motivated him to “labor exceedingly” for his people. Our feelings of gratitude should motivate us to labor to bless and help others. One who did just that was Ammon, and his tireless efforts among the Lamanites led to fruit that caused him to also swell with thanksgiving. When he saw the miraculous conversion of Lamoni and his wife, he was overcome with gratitude: “Now Ammon seeing the Spirit of the Lord poured out according to his prayers upon the Lamanites, his brethren, who had been the cause of so much mourning among the Nephites, or among all the people of God because of their iniquities and their traditions, he fell upon his knees, and began to pour out his soul in prayer and thanksgiving to God for what he had done for his brethren; and he was also overpowered with joy; and thus they all three had sunk to the earth” (Alma 18:14). His powerful feelings of gratitude led him to pour out his soul in prayer. Our own thanksgiving should likewise lead us to our knees to give thanks to God. Ammon expressed this powerful feeling of thanksgiving again later when he summarized their missionary efforts: “Now my brethren, we see that God is mindful of every people, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth. Now this is my joy, and my great thanksgiving; yea, and I will give thanks unto my God forever” (Alma 26:37). His words remind us that we too should give thanks to God forever because of His mercy. He is mindful of every people, including us, and our thanksgiving should be focused on all that He has done for us.

               To me the most important verse using the word thanksgiving in the Book of Mormon is this injunction from Amulek to the Zoramites: “That ye contend no more against the Holy Ghost, but that ye receive it, and take upon you the name of Christ; that ye humble yourselves even to the dust, and worship God, in whatsoever place ye may be in, in spirit and in truth; and that ye live in thanksgiving daily, for the many mercies and blessings which he doth bestow upon you” (Alma 34:38). We often speak about how we should have the spirit of Christmas with us all year long. This scripture suggests also that it should be Thanksgiving every day, or at least we should live with a feeling of gratitude in our hearts every day. It also teaches us what will help us develop that spirit of thanksgiving. We must receive the Holy Ghost to help us see what God has done for us, we must humble ourselves before Him in order to recognize His blessings, and we must strive to worship God wherever we are. As we do so we will see the “many mercies and blessings” that He has given unto us, and we can have a spirit of thanksgiving not just on the fourth Thursday of November but every day of the year.