BIBLE MEDITATION: “Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.” Psalm 95:2.
ENCOURAGING WORD:
As we enter into the time of year when we celebrate Thanksgiving, once again families from all over the world will take time out of their busy schedules to gather with loved ones to reflect on all they have to be thankful for. Families will travel hundreds of miles to spend time with their loved ones and in some cases, it is the only time of year that they see each other. It is a Special Day with most families when the meal is preceded with a prayer, but sadly the rest of the year, we go back to our normal routines. In some cases, this is the only time of the year when prayer precedes the meal. Thanksgiving for the most part is a very happy occasion, but the sad truth is, this should not be just a one day a year gathering. Even though it is hard for families to get together on a regular basis because of the travel that is necessary, it should be something that we keep in our hearts and minds every day of the year. Can you imagine how wonderful it would be if we would treat every day like we treat Thanksgiving Day!
We read in 2 Corinthians 4:15; “All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.”
There are people that don’t even know what they are celebrating. Thanksgiving is a federal holiday in the United States, celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. It originated as a harvest festival. The event that Americans commonly call "The First Thanksgiving" was celebrated by the Pilgrims after their first harvest in the New World in October 1621. This is most likely the most common reason that people celebrate Thanksgiving, but if you are a true born-again Christian, it goes much deeper.
When a Christian family gathers for the meal, they will reflect on all they have to be thankful for, especially the gifts for above that are from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! After all, whether you believe it or not, everything that you have is a gift from God.
James 1:17 tells us; “Every good thing given, and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.”
Our God is so generous that He even blesses those that don’t invite Him into their homes. Can you imagine how God must feel when He provides such a delightful meal, and then He doesn’t even get invited to the celebration. But because He is such a loving God, He will still bless those that exclude Him from their celebration.
We have all been blessed with gifts from above, but the greatest gift that we have to celebrate is the gift of grace. We read in what is perhaps the most popular verse in the Bible,
John 3:16; “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
If God did not give us this gift, we would all be men most miserable. Because God entered His creation some two thousand years ago in the personage of Jesus Christ, who took the sins of the world upon Himself, and then willfully allowed Himself to bear the pain and suffering that was due to us, we can now enjoy fellowship with Him forever. If you have not received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you are rejecting the greatest gift ever offered.
I would like to personally wish everybody a Happy Thanksgiving. I would like to ask that everybody, in the privacy of your own heart, reach out to Jesus Christ today and thank Him from the bottom of your heart for what He has done for you. And when you feel that warm and fuzzy feeling of knowing that He heard you, remember, you can have this fellowship with Jesus Christ every day! Believe me when I tell you, “You will have a level of comfort come over you that you never felt before, it is the comfort of knowing you are a child of God, and you are forever in His protective care.” Please don’t reject this wonderful gift that we call grace, it is the best gift that you will ever receive. So, enjoy this wonderful time of year with family and friends and know that you are blessed.
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