“Oh come, let us
sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let
us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him
with songs of praise!” Psalm 95:1-2
The other evening, I had the opportunity to introduce a
small group of foreign students to the American tradition of Thanksgiving. In
doing so I did a little research about the holiday. It is a carryover from English Puritan
tradition of declaring days of thanksgiving and fasting. No one is completely
sure how such a holiday became a day of turkey, football and over eating; but I
had to sheepishly admit to the students that that is what it has become for far
too many people.
After the initial Pilgrim Thanksgiving in 1621 (when they
did eat venison and ‘foul’ with Native Americans), it became a fairly routine
practice of colonial leaders and later state governors to declare days of
thanksgiving. It wasn’t until the nation
was in the throes of a horrible civil war that President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed
in 1863 that the fourth Thursday of November shall be observed nationally as “a
day of Thanksgiving and Praise.” “A day of Thanksgiving and Praise.” Thanksgiving and praise to whom? Lincoln
wrote, “to our
beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.”
The Psalmist, likely David, long ago declared the need
for thanksgiving and praise. “Oh come,
let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our
salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a
joyful noise to him with songs of praise.”
What he did not do was set a certain date on it. This is to be the daily attitude of God’s
people. Daily.
So as you start this morning, what are you thankful to
God for? What are you and I praising him
about? Let’s not wait till thanksgiving, not wait until we are in our
tryptophan stupors. Today. This moment.
What do you give thanks about; what do you praise God for right at this
moment.
Let me encourage you to open each day this week, the rest
of the month, the rest of the year with this challenge. Let’s not wait for Thanksgiving.
The time is now. What are you thankful for?
No comments:
Post a Comment