A Bible Study for Thanksgiving

In our evening devotions with our boys (6 & 4 years old), my wife and I are walking through the Old Testament and have finished up Genesis and moved on to Moses. As we started, we read this verse in Exodus chapter 1: “Then a new king, who did not know about Joseph, came to power in Egypt.”

Joseph had saved Egypt as a nation and prefigured Jesus by being a blessing to all nations (Genesis 12-3). The new pharaoh did not remember. In his forgetfulness, pharaoh no longer saw the Israelites with an air of gratitude, but rather, with a spirit of fear. ”‘Look,’ he said to his people, ‘the Israelites have become much too numerous for us. Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.’”

This is striking. The pharaoh forgot what the Israelites had done for Egypt, instead of being thankful for them he became irrationally fearful of them. The lesson we tried to instill in our boys (and ourselves) was and is that when we forget what God has done, we feel entitled, and entitlement breeds a fear of losing that privilege.

One of the most seditious lies of Satan is that we are owed anything. The lack of thankfulness leads to this entitlement and looking down on anyone and everyone. And it is exceedingly difficult to be thankful if we do not stop to remember all that has been done for us.

This is the power, in my opinion, of One Thousand Gifts. Ann Voskamp chronicles all the gifts in her life and encourages other to do the same. This helps stop the entitlement, stop the feeling that we deserve anything.

“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Watch the first full session on below. You can also see the entire first session video and study guide here.