When you think of Thanksgiving Day what images come to mind? If you are like most Americans your mind immediately races to visions of a large stuffed turkey dinner, cranberries, candied yams, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie and the family gathering together to consume the feast and then spending the day watching a menagerie of events parading across the big screen television beginning with Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade through the streets of New York City followed by the Detroit Lions and then the Dallas Cowboys playing football and then after that perhaps concluding with a third NFL game at night or even an NBA game or two. Or even in the past year or two Black Friday crowding in on Thanksgiving Day itself resulting in an evening and late night of Christmas shopping.
How in the world did we ever get to here? Isn't this the same day of Thanksgiving as proclaimed by Governor William Bradford back in the Fall of 1621 celebrating a bounteous harvest following that first long, bleak and deadly New England winter where half the pilgrims in the colony had perished? And isn't this the same holiday instituted by none other than Abraham Lincoln in 1863 to be celebrated annually on the fourth Thursday in November? Clearly the pilgrims of Plymouth colony had given God credit for all they had including their very survival. Bradford so much as stated so when he decreed "Thus out of small beginnings greater things have been produced by His hand that made all things of nothing, and gives being to all things that are; and, as one small candle may light a thousand, so the light here kindled hath shone unto many, yea in some sort to our whole nation; let the glorious name of God have all the praise."
Though not specifically mentioned in the Bible, Thanksgiving is different that most other national holidays. In fact, many nations celebrate their own unique harvest festivals, history shows Thanksgiving Day as practiced in North America to be unique. The originators of this day focused upon giving thanks for an abundant harvest which was sorely needed for their own very survival. Being centered on giving thanks to the Creator is a major distinction in origin that separates Thanksgiving Day from holidays tainted with pagan origins, such as Easter, Valentine's Day, Halloween and even Christmas.
Holidays as recorded in Scripture include Jesus Christ being present at a Jewish celebration called the "Feast of Dedication" [John 10:22] which was a yearly anniversary of the purification of the Temple at Jerusalem [in about 165 BC] after it was desecrated by Antiochus Epiphanes. This was not a day of riotous parties or celebrations but rather a national holiday commemorating a respectable and solemn event. This account clearly shows that Jesus Himself was with the Jews as they gave thanks to God on this special day.
Note, however, that these days were not to be observed with the same degree of honor and reverence as God's Holy Days, which represent specific parts of His Master Plan of salvation. Rather, these celebrations were simply for remembering important national events.
So how then is Thanksgiving different? Although not directly mentioned in Scripture, Thanksgiving Day is a holiday specifically based on biblical principles and commands. It was to be a day to spend with family and friends, both honoring and thanking God for the bountiful blessings that He provides.
King David wrote in the Psalms, "Let us come before Him with thanksgiving, and extol Him with music and song [95:2]. "Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name" [100:4]. And, "Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever ... Let them give thanks to the Lord for His unfailing love and His wonderful deeds for men, for He satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with with good things" [107:1, 8-9].
The Apostle Paul wrote, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving present your requests to God" [Phil. 4:6]. He also said, "Always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" [Eph. 5:20]. These great servants of God gave thanks regularly and recorded their examples for us to follow today. Thanksgiving should be done routinely. In fact, God even commands that we do so.
In the Old Testament, God's people were required to sacrifice animals and offer them as burnt offerings to Him. These sacrifices took place in conjunction with repentance for sins, and asking for God's forgiveness. Yet God did not require these sacrifices because it pleased Him. Rather it was done as a picture of the ultimate sacrifice that was yet to come -- that of Jesus Christ, the very Lamb of God [John 1:29]. At Christ's death, the ritualistic practices that were part of the Old Covenant were done away with forever. Christ's sacrifice and shed blood had truly washed away humanity's penalty for sins -- death.
But still today God requires the offering of a certain kind of sacrifice. The psalmist states, "I will sacrifice a thank offering to you and call on the name of the Lord" [116:17], and, "Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? Sacrifice thank offerings to God, fulfill your vows to the Most High" [50:13-14]. These verses clearly demonstrate that God has no need of "the flesh of bulls or the blood of goats." Instead, He wants our hearts!
David understood this, and even appointed to certain Levite priests the specific duty of thanking and praising God: "He appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord, to make petition, to give thanks, and to praise the Lord, the God of Israel" [1 Chron. 16:4]. In chapter 23 of 1 Chronicles the Levites' duties were further explained and in verse 30 they were told "to stand every morning to thank and praise the Lord. They were do the same in the evening."
It is no different today really. God still wants -- and expects -- from us these same sacrifices of thanksgiving through our actions and prayers. Paul furthers this thought when he wrote "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" [1 Thess. 5:16-18]. Yet to be effective, our thanksgiving must be both spontaneous and from the heart, rather than an expression of routine formality!
One of the best examples of this comes from ancient biblical history when the pagan King Nebuchadnezzar finally came to his senses after roaming the earth as a mad animal for seven years eating the grass of the countryside. Near the end of his life he gave a sobering and insightful account of God's power, "Then I honored and glorified Him who lives forever. His dominion is an eternal dominion; His kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as He pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back His hand or say to Him: 'What have you done?'" [Dan. 4:34-35].
I am sure the pilgrims never imagined in their wildest dreams that America would ever become the global superpower that it is today. For more than a century the United States has been at the forefront of economic prosperity, medical science, technology, food production, sanitation, architecture and space exploration and myriad of other areas as well. Our citizens enjoy freedoms that most of the rest of the world can only dream about. We allow individuals and families to emigrate from other countries to enjoy these liberties as well. We are usually the first country, if not the only one, to support other nations and peoples when calamity strikes and need abounds. And for the better part of a century the income and standard of living in America has exceeded virtually that of the entire world. Yet are Americans grateful? Are their hearts overflowing with thankfulness? We both know the answer to these questions!
Moses spoke to this problem in the heart of his people Israel back in the desert when he issued this grave warning: "Be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery" [Deut. 6:12]. He understood the hearts of men and warned the people that when they receive much, it is in our nature to become arrogant and ungrateful, and worse yet to forget the source of their blessings ... Almighty God. Even Jesus, Himself, spoke to this when he admonished his disciples that "from everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked" [Luke 12:48].
And so in America ... a country who has celebrated Thanksgiving every year without fail since 1863 ... the practice of giving thanks -- as the pilgrims did and originally intended -- has all but disappeared in 2016 and truthfully for many years preceding this one.
It was none other than John Winthrop, the first governor of Massachusetts in 1630, who said, "For we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all the people are upon us. So that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken, and so cause Him to withdraw His present help from us, we shall be made a story and a by-word through the world..." These are strong words ... but they accurately portray the condition of our nation today do they not?
