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THANKFUL? The Mayflower left for the promised land of America on September 6, 1620, with some 122 people on board. They willingly left everything familiar behind for a new life on the other side. Sadly, they expected to land farther south, and so that first winter became a tortuous fight for survival, with many dying from the elements, sickness, or malnutrition. Yet, they persisted in their thankfulness to their Creator. It was 160 years later that President George Washington declared November 26, 1789, as a day of prayer and Thanksgiving. What better way for a young country to recognize the One who gave victory and freedom from the control of the tyrannical British empire! However, it wasn't until 1863 that President Abraham Lincoln declared the last Thursday of November as Thanksgiving Day so that a divided nation might stop their animosity toward each other and instead turn their hearts upward in unity toward the One who saw them through such a devastating time. The question for us today is, 'Are we thankful for God and His grace in our lives?' Is Thanksgiving really only about family, food, and football? Even as we take time to carve our turkey for a delicious meal, should we not also take time to first and foremost express our faith and thankfulness to the One who has blessed us so exceedingly abundantly by the death of His Son? We would all do well to read Psalm 100 together this Thanksgiving as a family, thus voicing thankfulness to our merciful Creator. 'Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands! Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before His presence with singing. Know that the LORD, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with Thanksgiving And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.'
