| Giving Thanks
(November 25, 2009) | 
|
|
|
|
Thanksgiving is a chance to gather with loved ones and share in a
time-honored American tradition. For some, it is an excuse to stuff
themselves with turkey and football. For others, it is a special time of
“giving thanks” for blessings in their lives.
One may ask, “thanks to whom?” Well, thanks to God, of course. Never before
has the question been difficult to answer. Perhaps we should consider that
America's blessings of prosperity, freedom, justice, peace and opportunity.
They are gifts from a mighty and gracious God. These days, however, the
preeminence of God may look more like a matter of opinion.
Clearly, this was not the Pilgrims' view. They had come
to this land in 1620, not to escape God, but to find Him
in His fullness. They bowed their heads in
acknowledgment of His power and grace. To |
|
Jeff Lukens |
| them, He was the one and only truth. |
|
In front of them was a desolate wilderness in a harsh Massachusetts winter.
Behind them was a vast ocean that separated them from the rest of
civilization.
Before starting their new lives, they made a covenant with God written in
the Mayflower Compact. They had come to form a colony for the “glory of
God.” In return, they would receive His protection and blessings in this new
land. That bond, of their faithfulness and His blessings, would be the key
to their survival.
After the first harvest was completed in 1621, Governor William Bradford
proclaimed a day of thanksgiving and prayer, and so the holiday was born.
During a period of drought in 1623, a day of fasting was changed to
thanksgiving when during their prayers it began to rain.
They understood what gratitude to the Almighty is about. “Instead of famine,
now God gave them plenty,” Gov. Bradford wrote, “and the face of things was
changed to the rejoicing of the hearts of many, for which they blessed God.”
An informal custom evolved in New England over the years of annually
celebrating thanksgiving after the harvest. In 1863, President Lincoln
declared the last Thursday in November as an official national day of
Thanksgiving.
Like the Pilgrims, President Lincoln believed America's prosperity was not
the result of our own making. “No human counsel hath devised nor hath any
mortal hand worked out these great things,” he wrote. “They are the gracious
gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our
sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.”
Lincoln asked Americans to set aside time “as a day of Thanksgiving and
Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.” We would give
thanks for the blessings God had granted us, “solemnly, reverently and
gratefully . . . as with one heart and one voice by the whole American
People.”
Lincoln's words might seem a bit old-fashioned today. No doubt, some would
argue they violate the separation between church and state.
Yet, in millions of homes across the nation, people will still thank the
Lord for many gifts; for health and good fortune in the year gone by; for
the feast on the table and the companionship of loved ones; for living in
America.
The Bible says in Deuteronomy, “When you have eaten and are satisfied,
praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.”
Living in a land of freedom, and the prosperity it makes possible, is an
extraordinary gift. By the grace of God, America is a society in which more
people enjoy more liberty and more prosperity than has ever been known at
any time and anywhere in history. There is no better time than Thanksgiving
to express our gratefulness for these blessings. | |
| |
|
|
