Too often we think of Thanksgiving as a holiday. We think of turkey, family, and football.
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Are these the things that should come to mind when we consider Thanksgiving? I say, “no.” I also believe that Scripture would also teach us the same.
Why did the Pilgrims gather to give thanks? Hint: it wasn’t for football, and neither was it simply to gorge themselves on turkey.
They truly met to give thanks. They did so because they recognized that the source of all that they had was not simply their hard work (though they did indeed work hard and suffer much in those early years in America), but was God (cf James 1:17).
This special day of Thanksgiving was more than a holiday. It was a special day to show what was in their hearts. The gratitude that they had toward God each day of their lives was a gratitude that they felt should be shown in a special way. Thus the special day.
The Pilgrims were not perfect people but ,as Puritan and the faith-kin of Puritans, they were holy people. I believe that their holiness was related to their thankfulness.
You see, holiness and thankfulness go hand-in-hand. An ungrateful person is an unholy person, and the antidote to sinfulness in contentment and thanksgiving. The Hebrews were warned of sexual sin, and then exhorted to contentment (Hebrews 13:4-5), and the Ephesians were commanded to replace uncleanness, immorality, and vile language with the giving of thanks (Ephesians 5:1-4).
Why is this so? It is so because people who are satisfied with God are satisfied with the gifts that He gives, and they don’t go out trying to find joy outside of God.
This Thanksgiving, let us seek to cultivate a spirit of gratitude that characterizes our lives for each day of the year instead of just one.
It’s a matter of giving glory to God, and a matter of personal holiness.
