Oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness,
and for His wonderful works to the children of men!
And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving,
and declare His works with rejoicing.
Psalms 107:21-22
We are in the process of starting to get ready for the holidays. As most of you already know, many stores have already decorated for Christmas and put out the merchandise they are trying to sell this Christmas. I am not going to lie. I already have most of my Christmas shopping done thanks to trying to buy at least one Christmas gift every time my husband or I get paid. Now, I know that we still have one holiday to go through before Christmas, but it seems as if the retailers have forgotten that. Many of them are opening late Thanksgiving Day just to give people an extra day to shop. It is like everyone, except the employees who have to work, is forgetting Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving was the day that Pilgrims celebrated after they arrived in what is now Massachusetts. The main goal of the holiday was to thank and praise God for their safe arrival in the New World. They praised God for His goodness and mercy. They rejoiced for they had survived the dangerous trip with God’s help. The feast they had did not matter. What did matter was that the Pilgrims were thanking and praising God.
In this modern world, we should be doing the same. The stores need to stay closed on Thanksgiving. Employees should be with their families rejoicing together over the fact that God has guided them through another year. Yet, the corporations in their desire to make a profit (as well as the people who actually want to shop on Thanksgiving just to have something to do) make it so the employees have to sacrifice their time to be with their families in order to work or they could lose their jobs. It has become a sad situation.
So in this month between Halloween and Christmas, I encourage all to put Thanksgiving back in its proper place. Thank God for all you have. Thank God for getting you through another busy year and pray for God to bring you through 2014.
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Dear Heavenly Father, I give thanks to You today for all that You have given me, and for getting me through 2013 (at least through to this point). Please be with all those who will not get to celebrate Thanksgiving with their families and bless them as they sacrifice family time in order to provide for their families. Bless all of them. In Jesus name, Amen.
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Laura, thank you for this reminder to not just enjoy the day off, but to remember to take time to thank God for all that we have. That’s true Thanksgiving.