THANKSGIVING MEDITATION

"O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good."  Psalm 107:1

  Three and a half centuries ago, a little band of pilgrims joined their hands and hearts in America's first Thanksgiving. With Native American guests, they gathered around a table for the New World's first Thanksgiving dinner. Measured by our standards, they did not have much. Harvest was in, and they were grateful to God. But their needs were great. They had no supermarkets. Cold, hunger, and sickness threatened their very lives.

   How far, in some ways, we have come since that first day of thanks in 1621. Today more than two hundred million people populate our land. We produce more food, more fuel, more finished products than any nation in the world. Measured by dollars and cents, our gross national product exceeds one trillion dollars and is climbing every year. Our Church is blessed beyond measure!

   At such a time as this, real thankfulness is appropriate. When you are thankful, you see God's love and goodness. You realize that you are where you are because He has provided for your needs. When you are thankful, your eyes are open to His judgment and you are receptive to His will. Thanklessness, by contrast, blinds the eyes. An unthankful person may not even know that God is in the picture. 

   All that we are and have is from God's hand. The strength we have, the food and shelter that maintains our lives, the blood and breath within our bodies, the very time we have, here and in eternity to come, are gifts from our Creator. He is our Provider and Sustainer, every necessity of life comes from His hand.

PRAYER: Father God, you have been good to us. We set aside this special time in our nation and our lives to acknowledge your love and lavish gifts to us.