Thanksgiving

O give thanks unto the Lord; for He is good: because His mercy endureth forever.
I called upon the Lord in distress: the Lord answered me, and set me in a large place.
Psalm 118:5

We are about to enter that ever-so-busy and often hectic season—the holiday season.  It is hard to believe that the holiday season is already back.  It seems like we just rung in the New Year. Yet, here we are again.  Life goes on.  Now back to the holiday season.  In our family you could pretty much say that the holiday season starts for us at Halloween, even though it is a holiday.  There is one major important holiday between Halloween and Christmas that is possibly losing its footing in this modern era—Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is the time to give thanks to the Lord for the many blessings that He has given us through the year and throughout our lives.  The Pilgrims started the holiday for this very reason. They were thankful that the Lord had brought them across the Atlantic Ocean safely.  They were thankful for the blessings that the Lord had given.  They were thankful for the mercy the Lord showed them in helping them survive that first year in their new land.

Noah did something similar when he left the ark:

Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal
and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
Genesis 8:20

 Noah gave thanks to the Lord for choosing him and his family to survive the great flood that covered the earth and caused massive destruction. He gives thanks by building the altar and sacrificing (which was the norm in Noah’s time) animals to the Lord.  The Lord saw this, and He decided not to destroy the earth with water again.  He blessed Noah and his family from then on.

Just as Noah and the Pilgrims gave thanks to God for their survival and their provisions, we should, too.  We should not just observe it in November, but we should give thanks every day for the blessings that God has given us.  Being thankful for God’s love and standing with Him will bring us many blessing through our lives.

*****

 Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for Your blessings.  Thank You for giving us the life we have. Thank You for sending Your Son, Jesus, to bring us back to You.  In Jesus name, Amen.

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