| In a few weeks our nation will celebrate one of it's
oldest holidays -- Thanksgiving Day. Families will get together for scrumptious
meals, watching football games, visiting and reminiscing. As New
Testament Christians we do not put any religious significance on one
special day of the year as a day of thanksgiving. For the child of
God, every day is thanksgiving day in the sense that we are grateful to
our Father in heaven for all of His bountiful blessings.
The Bible repeatedly admonishes us to give thanks. In the
Old Testament David said, "It is a
good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy
name, O Most High" (Ps.
92:1). In the New Testament Paul said, "And
let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are
called in one body; and be ye thankful" (Col.
3:15).
Thanksgiving Day has been observed since 1621 when the pilgrims of
Plymouth Colony celebrated their first Thanksgiving. In the beginning
they were faced with two options: to mourn or to rejoice. They had
every reason to mourn--almost half the people had died due to the
hardships they faced, malaria, freezing winter storms, and meager food
supplies. One group wanted a memorial service to be held at the
first harvest to grieve for those who had died. Others wanted a
gathering in which they would celebrate the bounty of the land, thank
God for their blessings, and look forward to a bright future. |
The second group won out, and thus the first Thanksgiving
was a time of gratitude and anticipation.
One hundred and sixty-eighty years later, on November 26, 1789,
George Washington proclaimed a day of Thanksgiving with these
words: "Whereas 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 implore His
protection, aid and favor...Now therefore, I do recommend and assign
Thursday, the 26th 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;
that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble
thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country,
and for all the great and various favors which He has pleased to confer
upon us."
In 1863, President Lincoln issued a proclamation setting aside the
last Thursday of November in that year "as
a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father."
Each year afterward for 75 years, the President of the United States
formerly proclaimed that Thanksgiving Day should be celebrated on the
last Thursday of November. But in 1839, President Roosevelt proclaimed
Thanksgiving Day to be celebrated one week earlier. His purpose was to
help business by making the shopping period between Thanksgiving and
Christmas longer (That wouldn't matter today--the Christmas shopping
season begins long before Halloween). |
Congress finally ruled that after 1941 the fourth
Thursday of November would be observed as Thanksgiving Day and would be
a legal holiday.
We are not the only country to celebrate such a holiday. Canada
observes Thanksgiving on the second Monday of October. Other
countries have similar holidays of thanksgiving.
However, in Exodus
12:14 we find a much earlier "Thanksgiving Day"
celebration. In instituting the feast of the passover God said: "And
this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast
to the Lord throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an
ordinance forever." We might mention that the word
rendered "forever" does not imply
absolute endlessness but a period of indefinite length, a very long
time, the length of which is hidden from us. So the children of
Israel were given the passover as a type of thanksgiving day for their
deliverance from Egyptian bondage.
Brethren, let us never forget that we are dependant upon God for all
our blessings. James tells us, "Every
good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the
Father of lights..." (1:17). (This
would include both physical and spiritual blessings.) Everyone who
is fair & honest with himself will admit that he is dependent upon
God for all his blessings. |
Not a one of us could live a single hour without the
blessings of God.
Yet, we are seldom satisfied or thankful to God for these
blessings.
As Children of God, let us resolve to be more appreciative of the many
blessings we have been given.
Let us give thanks to God daily for all that he has
done for us.
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-- Mark Bass, November 2000 --
GNFY is published under the oversight of the
Alkire Rd Church of Christ elders, 2779 Alkire Road, Grove City, Ohio, 43123.
Please feel
free to reproduce as is. No changes may be made without permission.
|
Editor:
Mark Bass, Minister, mebass1957@aol.com,
(614) 875-1028
|
Youth
Leader: John Justus, (614) 274-9563
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