Thanksgiving Should Be Celebrated Every Day

Thanksgiving Day is a holiday celebrated in the United States and Canada. Its origin is a matter of debate, but most likely it is based on the traditional “first Thanksgiving” harvest meal shared in 1621 at the Plymouth Colony Plantation by the Pilgrims and a group of native Americans. Thanksgiving is generally observed on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. It is often a day for watching football games, parades, and TV specials. It usually begins the Christmas shopping season (known as Black Friday) and ushers in the start of Christmas cards, tree trimming, gift wrapping, and family gatherings. This holiday provides a valuable opportunity for the strengthening of family bonds, expressions of gratitude, and a reminder of God’s rich blessings.

Wikipedia states, “The first Thanksgiving feast lasted three days providing enough food for 53 pilgrims and 90 Native Americans. The feast consisted of fowl, venison, fish, lobster, clams, berries, fruit, pumpkin, and squash. William Bradford noted that, "besides waterfowl, there was great store of wild turkeys, of which they took many”, probably gave rise to the American tradition of eating turkey at Thanksgiving.”

It is also a tradition for US Presidents to issue a pardon to the White House Thanksgiving Turkeys. Since about 1947 the National Turkey Federation has presented the President of the United States with one (and in recent years - two) live turkey(s) in a ceremony known as the National Thanksgiving Turkey Presentation. The live turkeys are pardoned and live out the rest of their days on a farm or, since 2005, sent to either Disneyland in California or Walt Disney World in Florida, where they serve as the honorary grand marshals of Disney's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

As Christians, we acknowledge God’s goodness and provision in our expression of Thanksgiving. God’s Word implores us to give thanks to Him. Both Old and New Testament books of the Bible encourage us to have an attitude of gratitude. Psalm 50:14 tells us to, “Offer to God thanksgiving.” Psalm 95:2 says, “Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving…” The Apostle Paul, in Philippians 4:6 declares, “…in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” We are to develop and display a grateful heart. 

One of my favorite psalms is 136.  It begins with verses 1-3 - thanking God for His Goodness.  "Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. Oh, give thanks to the God of gods! For His mercy endures forever.  Oh, give thanks to the Lord of lords! For His mercy endures forever."  So much we have to be thankful for!  Our families, our health, our jobs, our homes, and our ability to worship unhindered.

Thank Jesus for your salvation.  If we had nothing else to be thankful for, that would be sufficient.  Oh, how we thank Him for rescuing us from certain destruction and eternal doom.  In II Corinthians 9:15 Paul says this, “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” 

This Thanksgiving, make it a priority to focus on faith, family, and giving.  The blessing we receive from meeting the needs of someone else is huge.  Give to your local shelter, or volunteer your time.  Do something different as a family, and make a memory by serving others in your community.  Help distribute gift baskets at church to the needy, or invite a co-worker who doesn't have immediate family nearby for a home-cooked meal and fellowship.

It’s fun to start your own family traditions for the Thanksgiving holiday. Kids can make homemade decorations, and you can bake special pies and loaf cakes from the abundance of the fall fruits and vegetables. Watch the annual Macy’s Day Parade together. Head outside and take a nature walk, collecting leaves, pine cones, and other trinkets to display as a centerpiece on your table. Involve kids in the dinner menu selection and preparations. Say a family blessing and let each member shares what they are thankful for. There are so many wonderful ways to celebrate this special day.

What are some of your Thanksgiving Day traditions at your house?

Deborah is the author of a Christian non-fiction book titled “Mission Possible”. It was written for women who love the Lord Jesus, but their spouse doesn’t share their passion.  It will encourage and challenge the reader to embrace God’s promises for their spouse and future together.   Visit  http://www.spirituallyunevenmarriage.com

If you have been encouraged by this post - please take time to share it with others.

Thanksgiving Should Be Celebrated Every Day

Lord of the Harvest

In agriculture, the harvest is the process of gathering mature crops from the fields. Reaping is the cutting of grain for harvest, typically using a scythe, sickle, or reaper. The harvest marks the end of the growing season, or the growing cycle for a particular crop.

Genesis 8:22 ends with a promise by God that He will never destroy every living thing again; “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and winter and summer, and day and night, shall not cease.”

The end of the summer ushers in the beginning of fall, a time marked by crops and their harvest. For the Hebrew people, as for those in any agricultural district today, the harvest was a most important season.  The three principal feasts of the Jews corresponded to the three harvest seasons (Ex 23:16; 34:21,22); (1) the feast of the Passover in April at the time of the barley harvest; (2) the feast of Pentecost (7 weeks later) at the wheat harvest; and (3) the feast of Tabernacles at the end of the year (October) during the fruit harvest. Many concise laws were instituted regarding the harvest. Gleaning was forbidden (Lev 19:9; Deut 24:19). The first-fruits were required to be presented to Yahweh (Lev 23:10).

In Israel, the harvest festival is celebrated in the form of the Succoth. Succoth has historical roots which date back to the time when the Hebrews traveled to Israel (Canaan) and set up living booths along the way. A booth was known as a succah and people ate and worshiped in this space.  Farmers also lived in them at harvest time and gave thanks for the harvest. Today, the Succoth festival lasts for seven days, in September/October, and it is still traditional to build a shelter where families gather to give thanks, share meals and live together for the time of the Succoth festival. A simple succah is built from tree branches, flowers and fruits and decorated with gold and blue material, leaving one side open. The Succoth is also known as the Jewish Harvest Festival.

In the book of Ruth we read in Chapter 2, verses 8-9, “Then Boaz said to Ruth, You will listen, my daughter, will you not? Do not go to glean in another field, nor go from here, but stay close by my young women. Let your eyes be on the field which they reap, and go after them. Have I not commanded the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink from what the young men have drawn.” God’s perfect timing had Ruth in the barley fields of Boaz for the harvest. The likelihood of him coming back from Bethlehem at that precise moment was nothing other than God’s Sovereignty, setting in motion the redeeming of Ruth by Boaz as her near kinsman. Boaz married Ruth, and their son Obed became King David’s grandfather.

In the New Testament, Jesus relates the harvest to the multitudes that He taught, and healed, and ministered to. He was moved with compassion for them, equating them to sheep without a shepherd. In Matthew 9:37-38 He said to his disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore, pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”

In John 4:35 He says, “Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!”

Jesus also spoke of the harvest in a different way as He shared the parable of the wheat and the tares. He told the crowd gathered around Him that in the parable, while the man who sowed good seed into his field was sleeping, the enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and left. Then, when the servants told the owner about the wheat and tares growing together, and whether they should gather them up, the owner said, “No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest, I will say to the reapers, ‘First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.’”

Finally, in Revelation 14:14-15 John tells us, “And I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud sat One like the Son of Man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, ‘Thrust in Your sickle and reap, for the time has come for You to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.’”

Lord Jesus, harvest our hearts for Your work in the fields of a lost world.

Lord of the Harvest