Thanksgiving originated as a harvest festival—as a day when the early Pilgrims offered thanks to God for the year’s crop. Their very lives depended on full storehouses, so we can imagine their gratitude was heart-felt. They knew they were vulnerable—and that they could not provide for their needs without God’s help.
In United States today, we can be thankful for a multitude of blessings on Thanksgiving Day. Because it is a national holiday, we might focus on historic aspects of the celebration. The vital connection of the Pilgrims to God reminds us that, after a certain amount of struggle, the early leaders made a decision to offer freedom of religious expression for both the minorities and the majority.
But do we remember that true thankfulness contains an element of humility? Thankfulness means we are grateful to someone for providing what we did not provide on our own. It looks to the One who helps us when we cannot help ourselves. David was king and a poet whose wrote many songs of thanksgiving. He wrote in one of his songs, I will bless the Lord at all times, his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord, the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. (Ps. 34:1-2 KJV)
This Thanksgiving, remember to thank God for His blessings. We need them.
Originally published November 22, 1985.
Moving Time
15 years ago