Exodus 23:14-19

Three times a year you shall celebrate a feast to Me.  You shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread; for seven days you are to eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt, And none shall appear before you empty-handed. Also you shall observe the Feast of the Harvest of the first fruits of your labors from what you sow in the field; also the Feast of the Ingathering at the end of the year when you gather in the fruit of your labors from the field.  Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord God.  You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread; nor is the fat of My feast to remain overnight until morning. You shall bring the choice first fruits of your soil into the house of the Lord your God. You are not to boil a kid in the milk of its mother.

2 Corinthians 9:6-15

Now this I say, he who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully shall also reap bountifully. Let each one do just as he has purposed in his heart; not grudgingly or under compulsion; for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed; As it is written, 'HE SCATTERED ABROAD, HE GAVE TO THE POOR, HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS ABIDES FOREVER." Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food, will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness; You will be enriched in everything for all liberality, which through us is producing thanksgiving to God. For the ministry of this service is not only fully supplying the needs of the saints, but is also overflowing through many thanksgivings to God. Because of the proof given by this ministry they will glorify God for your obedience to your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for the liberality of your contribution to them and to all, While they also, by prayer on your behalf, yearn for you because of the surpassing grace of God in you. Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!

Arcana Coelestia #9286

'Three times you shall keep a feast to Me in the year' means enduring worship of the Lord and thanksgiving on account of deliverance from damnation. This is clear from the meaning of 'keeping a feast' or 'holding a feast' as worshipping the Lord with gladness of mind on account of deliverance from damnation, and from the meaning of 'three times in the year' as a state complete right to its end, for 'three' means complete from the beginning to the end, , and 'year' a whole period. At this point therefore complete and whole deliverance is meant; for 'the feast of unleavened bread' means purification from falsities, 'the feast of harvest' means the planting of truth in good, and 'the feast of ingathering' means the implanting of good from there. Thus complete deliverance from damnation is meant by these feasts; for when a person has been purified from falsities, and after this has been brought by means of truths into good, and is at length governed by good, he is in heaven with the Lord and has accordingly undergone complete deliverance. 
[2] The consecutive stages of deliverance from damnation are like the consecutive stages of regeneration; for regeneration is deliverance by the Lord from hell and being led by Him into heaven. For a person who is being regenerated is first purified from falsities, after that the truths of faith he knows are planted in the good of charity, and finally that good itself is implanted in him. When all this has been done the person has been regenerated and he is then in heaven with the Lord. Therefore the three feasts in the year also meant worship of the Lord and thanksgiving on account of regeneration. Because these feasts were established on account of the everlasting remembrance of those things, the worship and thanksgiving are called enduring; for the most important things in worship should endure forever. The things which should endure forever are those which have been inscribed not only on the memory but also on the actual life that is led. When this is so they are said to reign universally with a person.

The Psalmist has written "It is right to give thanks unto the Lord, it is good to give thanks unto the Lord. "But there are various levels of thankfulness. Sometimes we are more thankful than others. Sometimes our thankfulness comes from deep within and sometimes it is very superficial.

It is surprising how many times in a day we say "thank you", or exchange "thank-yous". For instance if you go to a restaurant for breakfast you are greeted with "Good morning, thank you for coming to Grainfields, would you like smoking or nonsmoking?" Nonsmoking thank you. "May I take your order please? Yes, I'll have the breakfast special, thank you. Thank you, let me refill your coffee. Thank you! Let me clear away your plates. Thank you' Did you enjoy your breakfast? Yes thank you. Thank you, that will be $4.75. You pay her and she says thank you, please come again. And as you turn to leave you say "thank you".

This little everyday type of example illustrates our belief that being thankful is important. Children are taught that the magic words are "please" and "thank you." If being thankful was not so important to us, then we would not say it so often or feel the need to say it. 

Even said in a superficial way, it nevertheless represents or symbolizes the desire or thought that we should all be inwardly thankful. I think that this is demonstrated by how we feel when we forget to say thank you. When we forget to say thank you, we feel guilty, selfish, maybe as if we committed a great sin. And then what happens is that we call up the person, or the next time we see them we tell them how thankful we are, and how sorry for forgetting to say thank you. Often this thankfulness is more genuine and more appreciated by the other person than if you had said it the first time, because they sense the sincerity and don't see it as just a glib response.

What is most important is that thankfulness be genuine. Some people are very demanding of hearing those magic words, almost as if they did their good turn just to hear them. If such is the case, then they are not really deserving of the thankfulness they receive, because the motive is always more important than the action. As givers we are to give without really expecting to receive thanks; thanks is the bonus which comes with good action, and we must also realize that people have different ways of being thankful. They may say it with their smile, or a hug, or with the words "wow" or "awesome" or "that's great". If we are expecting people to always be thankful in the same way or in the way we want them to be, then we are really missing the reason for giving.

How does giving to God fit in to all this? The fact is that when we give genuine thanks to others for some good they do for us, then we should also give thanks to God for the same thing. Why thank God for the good that others do for us? Because all goodness comes from God. He is the source of every good and loving act. We are merely the receivers. When we are open to God's love and truth working through us, then God uses us to carry out his will. So whatever good another person does for us, we should thank God as well as the person. And when we do good for another we should thank God for the opportunity and for using us to help others or for being a channel for His love. For the more good we share the more we receive and the more we are in harmony with God and all of His creation.

Being genuinely thankful changes us. Here is a list of ideas that may help you to become a more thankful person: 

1. Paul speaks to us in his letters about praying ceaselessly and this can be taken a step further to being thankful ceaselessly. Most prayers begin and end with thanks, and so praying ceaselessly involves being thankful ceaselessly. This means being thankful every day. It means counting our blessings throughout every day. Stopping to smell the flowers, to appreciate the sky, to tell those close to us how much they mean to us, and thanking God for our every desire to be thankful. 

2. Every time you thank a person for something that they have done for you also thank God for working through that person. 

3. Stop complaining! Become aware of what you complain about and how trivial most of your complaints are. Also of how complaining makes you feel. Complaining makes you feel negative and unhappy, so why do it? You also have to look for negative things to complain about so when you are busy looking for the negative things you miss the positive ones that could make you feel good about the other person and yourself. Complaining is just a nonproductive waste of time. 

4. Do something good for someone without their knowing that you did it, and never let them know. 

5. Give at least three honest compliments a day.

This thanksgiving do something different. Don't just blurt out a prayer before the Turkey dinner. Perhaps after the meal or some time during it, go around the table and let each person say something that they are thankful for; and then go around again and thank each person for something that they have given to you or done for you. Then in your own private time make a commitment to God to live a more thankful and loving life, and give him a rather long list of the things for which you are especially thankful. For as the Psalmist says, "It is right to give thanks unto the Lord, and it is good to give thanks unto the Lord."

I would like to close with a poem: 

For These We Give Thanks
By John Oxenham

For all things beautiful, good and true;
For all things that seemed not good, yet turned to good;
For all the sweet compulsions of thy will
That chastened, tried, and wrought us to thy shape;
For things unnumbered that we take of right, 
And value first when they are first held;
For light and air; sweet sense of sound and smell;
For ears to hear the heavenly harmonies;
For eyes to see the unseen in the seen;
For vision of the Worker in the work;
For hearts to apprehend thee everywhere.
We thank thee, Lord.