Thanksgiving

Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!      Psalm 107:8 kjv                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

“The  worst moment for the atheist is when he is really thankful and has nobody to thank,” so said Dante Gabriel Rossetti. He’s right. It is impossible to give thanks without having an object or person attached. Give thanks to whom?

The pilgrims who landed on the eastern shores of the United States in the year 1620 knew exactly what they were thankful for and to whom they were thankful. Here history provides a valuable lesson for us,wherever we live. The Church of England had denied the pilgrims the freedom to read and interpret the Word of God and worship according to the dictates of their conscience, so the pilgrims packed up and decided to leave. They endured the long voyage by sea and survived, and they knew that it was the Almighty – not chance nor fate – who had protected and sustained them.

The pilgrim Governor Bradford summarized that first Thanksgiving, saying, “Thus they found the Lord to be with them in all their ways and to bless their outgoings and incomings...” One historian, however, points out the fact that nearly half the people did not survive the first year. For every house that was built, seven graves were dug. Yet Bradford’s proclamation was titled, “For Thanksgiving unto God.”

Regardless of what country you may be reading this in, I want to emphasize that Thankgiving is not simply an American holiday. It should be the attitude of every child of God in response of his heart to what God has done.

May I ask, “for what you are thankful?” Take time, wherever you are, no matter what the condition of your life, to lift your voice in praise and thanksgiving and to recognize that it is He who has blessed us with our very lives and salvation.

Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near.  Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts.  Let him turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.  “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:6-9