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It Is Called Thanksgiving (Kent Heaton) Of all the holidays celebrated through the year, none is as endearing as the fourth Thursday in November. The heat of summer has given way to the crisp air of fall with leaves falling upon a canopy of radiant beauty. Nature begins to prepare for the solitude of winter. In the natural desire of man thoughts go homeward in a time where families come together to share a time of thanksgiving. Less commercialized than other holidays, Thanksgiving retains a sense of the need for the home and hearth. When possible, parents gather their children and grandchildren together along with the aunts, uncles, cousins, in-laws and a few out-laws for a grand feast of dining and fellowship. It is called Thanksgiving to turn the hearts toward a time of giving thanks and celebration of received blessings. To be thankful recognizes a gift given by someone else. The spirit of Thanksgiving suggests a debt of gratitude. Helen Keller summed it up this way: “For three things I thank God every day of my life: thanks that He has vouchsafed me knowledge of His works; deep thanks that He has set in my darkness the lamp of faith; deep, deepest thanks that I have another life to look forward to – a life joyous with light and flowers and heavenly song” (Helen Keller, Story of My life, 1905). Many will celebrate Thanksgiving as a time to acknowledge an ill-conceived notion there is no God and that everything we have is the product of man. The apostle Paul writes, “Because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened” (Romans 1:21). Those who share in the deeper peace and truth of a divine creator will recognize that all blessings come from Jehovah God. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning” (James 1:17). The true spirit of Thanksgiving should return to fertile soil of the word of God that shows that everything we have comes from Him. Our breath is held in the hand of God (Daniel 5:23). All of the gold in the world belongs to the Father – “The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine,' says the Lord of hosts” (Haggai 2:8). The rain comes upon all men by the power of God (Matthew 5:45). Only a loving Father would offer His own Son to save man (John 3:16). What can we not attribute to God in our blessings? Nothing. During this time of Thanksgiving, let us all reflect upon the blessings we have from the Creator of the world. We will pause to think of our earthly attachments but ultimately the true sense of Thanksgiving comes from a sacrifice made nearly 2,000 years ago in a place called “the Skull” (John 19:17). To be thankful for our home is an expression of gratitude from the hand of God but this home is only temporary. The eternal home is what we must be truly thankful for as we look to a land yet occupied by the people of God. Be thankful for a peace of mind that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7). Lift up songs of thanksgiving for the blood of Jesus Christ (1 John 1:7). Increase your faith in the presence of a God who loves us and cares for us and calls us His children (Romans 8:1-17). Someone wrote, “Count your blessings instead of your crosses; your gains instead of your losses; your joys instead of your woes; your friends instead of your foes; your smiles instead of your tears; your courage instead of your fears; your health instead of your wealth; count on God instead of yourself.”
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