We’re less than two days away from Thanksgiving 2014 – a distinctly American holiday centered around the idea of acknowledging the settlers who came to America so many years ago and found freedom here. I ran across several fun facts that an acquaintance of mine provided to me earlier today. For example, more than 280 million turkeys, averaging 15 pounds each, will be consumed this Thanksgiving Day. And it’s difficult to believe that Thanksgiving was not made an official national holiday until 1941 according, although as early as 1863, President Lincoln declared a Thanksgiving Day be celebrated in honor of the strategic win for the Union Army at Gettysburg. And by the way, only male turkeys “gobble” – females “cackle”….
It kind of goes without saying that Thanksgiving is about giving thanks. But gratitude for a Union victory or the blessing that have been bestowed on us by friends or relatives pale in comparison to the blessings that we have received from God Almighty – Yahweh…
In fact, there are numerous references to the goodness of God and His enduring love throughout sections of the Bible – especially in the Old Testament. Psalm 107 is a great example of the “hosad” or merciful loving kindness of God. It is a psalm telling us about the trials and issues of the people who then reach out to God for help and He delivers them from their trials. Of course, it isn’t very long before they get themselves in trouble again and once again reach out to God for assistance. God obliges them, rescues them and the entire cycle repeats itself many times throughout the psalm. But the overriding theme of the entire psalm is that we serve a loving and kind God who looks out for His people. That is worth giving thanks to God.
The verse for this evening is from Psalm 107:1, “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.” My encouragement this evening is that God wants us to depend on Him for help in our times of tribulation. My prayer is that you will take a moment this Thanksgiving to give thanks – even if you don’t currently have trials that you are dealing with. Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…