“We know that the
Lord Himself is God; it is He who has made us and not us ourselves; We are His
people and the sheep of His pasture.
Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name, For the
Lord is good; His loving kindness is everlasting and His faithfulness to all
generations” (Psa. 100:3-5).
Hey Gang: Did you
know on October 3, 1789, George Washington, our first President, issued a
proclamation naming Thursday, November 26, 1789 as an official holiday of “sincere and humble thanks. “ The nation then celebrated its first Thanksgiving
under its new Constitution. In the
declaration,
Washington wrote: “Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to
acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful
for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor…” “…to the People of the United States a day of
public thanks-giving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful
hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God…”
He went on to declare “I
assign Thursday, the 26th of November next, to be devoted by the People
of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the
beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be. That we may then all united in rendering
unto him our sincere and humble thanks, for his kind care and protection of the
People of this country…”“And also
that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to
the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and
other transgressions….”
And did you know that on October 3, 1863, President Abraham
Lincoln made the traditional Thanksgiving celebration a nationwide holiday to
be commemorated each year on the fourth Thursday of November. In the midst of a bloody Civil War, President
Lincoln issued a Presidential Proclamation in which he enumerated the blessings
of the American people and called upon his countrymen to “…set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of
“Thanksgiving”.
In the most recent flyer from a Messianic Rabbi, he opened a
whole new avenue of thought for this Pennsylvania Hillbilly. He added the word “sacrifice” to “Thanksgiving”. I thought it was just a day when you brought
the family together and served them a huge meal of turkey and all the trimmings
and the closest thing to sacrifice was watching the Lion’s sacrifice themselves
to whomever they were playing..
Admittedly, the word
sacrifice is not looked upon with great esteem in this day “when everything that can be shaken is being
shaken so that those things that cannot be shaken will remain” (Heb. 12:27). But
sacrifice is a good word and a necessary word for all, especially for those
who have committed their lives to following Yeshua as Lord and Savior.
We have just celebrated Veteran’s Day and it seemed there
was a special remembrance of those who “sacrificed”
their lives so that we who live in this great Nation can be free. Jesus
said, “Greater love has no one than
this, that one lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). Do
you think that Jesus as saying, “Hey Gang, you need to go out the throw
yourself in front of a bus for your neighbor?
There are many in war time that have done just that but I
sense Jesus is painting with a much wider brush in this challenge. I really wanted to buy that new______ but my
neighbor is in need, or I wanted to go to that football game but I needed to
take my family to church.
Moses tells us in Leviticus 22:29 that “When you offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the Lord, offer it of
your own free will”. In other words,
thanksgiving in the Bible is an act of the will, gratitude feely given, but not
necessarily connected with joyous feelings, emotions or outward
circumstances. It is a sacrifice of Thanksgiving, springing from
faith and trust in our God “who works all things together for good to
those who love Him and are called according to His Purpose” (Romans 8:28).
So my friends, before you dig into the turkey, and all the
trimmings, let me challenge you to take a minute or two and give thanks to Abba
Father for the tremendous gift that He made available to each and every soul
who walks this earth – the gift of salvation through the death of His Son
on hideous cross. His greatest desire - that none should perish
but that every living soul would come to Christ as Lord.
Blessings,
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