Some years I have
written a thanksgiving message. Some
years not.
I thought this year
to be succinct. Straight to the point.
Thanksgiving is to
God. I know, our modern Thanksgiving and
Christmas holidays become ever more secular, and many likely think little about
God at this time. But it is to God we
owe all our thanks – he is the provider, the healer, the protector, the
deliverer, the comforter, and much more.
It is helpful to
note what Americans in the past thought about Thanksgiving.
Throughout the 1700’s
individual colonies evidently held periodic days or times of thanksgiving. Thomas Jefferson did this while governor of Virginia.
In 1777 right in the
middle of the Revolutionary War the Colonial Congress recommended a day of
thanksgiving.
In 1789, the first
year of the first presidency of the US under the new Constitution, George
Washington issued a proclamation establishing a day of thanksgiving that year. Here are a few of his words from the
proclamation:
-
it is the duty of all nations
to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful
for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favour…
-
I do recommend and assign
THURSDAY, the TWENTY-SIXTH DAY of NOVEMBER next, to be devoted by the people of
these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the
beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be…
-
we may …
unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord
and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other
transgressions
Abraham Lincoln finally established legally the annual holiday
we observe on the fourth Thursday of November each year. Here are a few words from his proclamation:
I do …invite my fellow citizens …to set apart
and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and
Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.
George Washington and Abraham Lincoln and the others establishing
such days in our history had no difficulty understanding who the thanksgiving
is to. It is to God.
So this Thanksgiving, even if you are a guest at a dinner with
others where little serious thanks to God is offered, you yourself can somehow
and sometime that day express your thankfulness to God for all he has done and
does for you on a regular basis. And if
possible you can influence others perhaps to be thankful as well. Actually, thanking and praising God should be
something we do daily, a part of our prayers or time of devotion, or really
just whenever we feel like it!
Remember, you and I are only alive because he allows us to
be. In fact, our every breath takes
place because he allows it. The Bible
notes that Jesus Christ holds the entire creation together (Colossians 1:17 and
Hebrews 1:3). What do you suppose would
happen if he decided not to do that?
For me, I am thankful for so many things. And I am thankful he is coming soon. Thank God.
Keep Your Eyes on Jesus!
(November 2013)
Copyright © 2013 by John Newlin
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