One of the main issues in discussing Thanksgiving is the One to whom thanks should be given, and that, of course, is God.
Looking back to the first American celebration of Thanksgiving, we know that the Plymouth colonists landed in the late fall of 1620, just before the dead of winter. Not able to plant, most of them stayed aboard their ship, the Mayflower, through the winter, where about half of them died from exposure or disease.
When the survivors emerged in the spring, a bilingual Native American by the name of Squanto aided the colonists by showing them how to cultivate crops, hunt, fish, and avoid danger in their new environment. The Pilgrims’ first harvest was a success, and the result was a three-day celebration of thanks in November 1621, in which they invited their new Native American friends who had helped them so graciously.
However, the Pilgrims knew that in spite of their hardships the previous year, it was ultimately God who had provided them a new home in the New World. Had they landed a few miles away either north or south, they may have missed their encounter with Squanto, had a disastrous first crop, and all perished. But God’s provision had sustained them.
From its inception as a nation, the United States recognized that its blessings come from God. George Washington called upon Americans to celebrate Thanksgiving in 1789, in gratitude for a successful conclusion of the Revolutionary War and the ratification of the U.S. Constitution. In the dark days of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln made Thanksgiving an official American holiday, but asked that citizens request of God to “commend to His tender care of all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife” and to “heal the wounds of the nation.”
With these thoughts in mind, it is clear that thanks should be given regardless of the outward circumstances in which we find ourselves. Many of us find ourselves facing difficulties, just as our American ancestors did. In these difficult economic times, many of us may even have to scale down the size and the cost of our Thanksgiving celebrations. Sickness and death take their toll at all times and in all places, and there may be some empty places at the table that were filled last year. But we must look at what we do have, rather than what we lack, just as was done by those who have preceded us, and give thanks accordingly:
“Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,” Ephesians 5:20.
When we concentrate on the blessings of God, particularly His greatest gift of salvation through Jesus Christ for those who have placed their trust in Him, we will strengthen our relationship with Him and look at our circumstances with a new and more positive outlook.
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning,” James 1:17.
This in turn will give us more impetus to trust God to provide for all our needs and to direct our paths. If you will open your heart and life this Thanksgiving to the Savior who loves you and gave Himself for you, this could be the greatest Thanksgiving you have ever experienced!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Dr. Ed Hindson and the World Prophetic Ministry team