By Pastor Bob Lawrenz
Happy Thanksgiving Week! Though it is a non-religious holiday, it’s a day when God’s grace was and is evident. From Google we learn that “The event that Americans commonly call the ‘First Thanksgiving’ was celebrated by the Pilgrims after their first harvest in the New World in October 1621. This feast lasted three days, and—as accounted by attendee Edward Winslow—it was attended by 90 Native Americans and 53 Pilgrims.”
As in the Book of Esther, nowhere is God mentioned, but the work of God is evident everywhere in the story of that first Thanksgiving feast. People came together to work and grow a harvest that would sustain them. Pilgrims and Native Americans combined their efforts for the sake of life in the New World.
What began out of need after a harsh winter in the New World, the day was proclaimed a National Day of Observance by President George Washington in 1789 to be a day of prayer and thanksgiving to God, regardless of denomination or beliefs. It was meant to remind us all of our common heritage, and the common needs of every man, woman, and child.
In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed it to be a National Holiday, with Congress adopting a Joint Resolution in 1941 designating the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day.
From the hardships of their first winter when many Pilgrims died in the New World has come a day to remind us of God’s grace and mercy regardless of our religious beliefs. Though it’s not a Church holiday, it is a day when we recognize God’s abundance in this nation. Being of a grateful heart, and filled with thanksgiving to Him will keep us aligned with the Almighty God. Give Him glory every day and be thankful for his wonderful blessings, provision, and protection over our land and our peoples. He alone is God!
Psalm 106:1
"Praise ye the LORD! O give thanks unto the LORD;
for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever."
1 Corinthians 3:7
"So then neither is he that planteth anything,
neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase."
