I began this post on Thanksgiving day, but I am just now getting back to it. With Christmas so soon maybe it's a little to late to make this post, but I still feel strongly about the subject so here goes.
We begin teaching our children at a very early age that Thanksgiving is a time to give thanks for all the blessings we have been given. The English settlers gave thanks for their deliverance by the Indians after a particularly brutal winter in the New World. In many countries, Thanksgiving began as a celebration for giving thanks for a bountiful harvest. I suppose we all have our own ideas and opinions of what Thanksgiving means and why we celebrate it, but by it's name and nature Thanksgiving is a time for "giving thanks." For me, the important thing about thanksgiving is not what we are giving thanks for but who we are giving thanks to.
In 2 Samuel 22:50, we read, "Therefore I will give thanks unto thee, O Jehovah, among the nations, And will sing praises unto thy name." I wonder sometimes who exactly non-Christians give thanks to when celebrating Thanksgiving. I know each year as I remember all the blessings that I have to be thankful for that my father in heaven provides those blessings and that He is the one to whom I am thankful.
I will also strive this year to be thankful year round for all that He has done for me and my family. Not to take anything away for Thanksgiving (because I still love the turkey, pumpkin pie, etc.) but to help keep me from taking all that I have for granted (not granite, Creede). I want to always remember what He has done for me, is doing for me, and will do for me.
14 years ago
