The Miracle of Thanksgiving

Can you feel sorry for a holiday?

Poor Thanksgiving. It is overlooked in the overcommercialized holiday season. Many even call it Turkey Day. It is thought of as a day of parades, overeating, and football. I don't think it is what our forefathers pictured when it was first celebrated. Of course, many people today don't even know the history of it, or at least the TRUE history....due to some politically correct history adjustments.

Religious freedom in the 1600s was a very scary movement. For the state, it was because they feared it and losing power for the Church of England. For the "Separatists", it was because they feared the consequences and punishments for going against the state religion. In order to worship God and stay true to His ways, they left for Holland. Holland gave them the freedom to worship, but the culture around them went against everything they believed in. They decided that the New World would be their new home.

If you look back at writings from this time from William Bradford, they fully understood what they were doing. It was not a life of luxury they wanted, nor a promise of an easy time. Bradford wrote, "They had a great hope and inward zeal of laying a good foundation, for the propagating and advancing of the kingdom of Christ in those remote parts of the world; yea though they should be but even as stepping stones unto others." They fully expected to begin something that they would not finish, but lay the foundation for future generations.

This reminds me of Hebrews 11, the Hall of Faith chapter. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and many others knew they were laying a foundation of faith for the next generation. It was up to the next generation to keep building on this foundation, or to walk away. We see some that did continue to build, and some that did walk away.

We all know that the trip on the Mayflower was not a joy ride. It was a long, cold, and miserable trip. Many on the ship died and most were sick. It is worth taking a look at on your own to see the faith these people had, and how they looked to God for everything.

The Pilgrims landed at Plymouth and praised God. Can you imagine? All the death and destruction they had seen. They landed somewhere they did not want to. They did not know anyone and had no food. But they prayed and celebrated by reading Psalm 100! We can't even go on a three hour trip without complaining about hunger or getting lost!

The days ahead got even worse. By the end of the winter, more than half of the people had died. When spring came, Natives came to help them. The one whose story I am constantly amazed by is Squanto. He is their Joseph.

Squanto's tribe, the Patuxets, once inhabited the land the Pilgrims were living on. The tribe had been wiped out by a plague. Squanto had survived because he had been kidnapped and taken as a slave to Spain and then England. He knew English, and had been taught about God by some monks that had helped him. Out of the evil that had been done to him, he was able to help the Pilgrims.

Squanto taught the Pilgrims how to grow food and harvest it. It was after this harvest that they celebrated what we think of as Thanksgiving.

This is not a holiday of overeating or spending lots of money. It is not a holiday to forget. It is a holiday to teach our family about...to add to the foundation that was laid before us.

We remember the sacrifices made by those first Pilgrims, laying a foundation for a Christian land. We remember the Natives, that helped them. We remember the Sovereignty of God. We remember that God is in control.... and we are thankful that He is.

Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth.
Serve the Lord with gladness;
Come before Him with joyful singing.
Know that the Lord Himself is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
Enter His gates with thanksgiving,
And His courts with praise.
Give thanks to Him; bless His name.
For the Lord is good;
His lovingkindness is everlasting,
And His faithfulness to all generations.
Psalm 100