Thanksgiving was one of the first national holidays in the USA, commissioned by George Washington in 1789. It was celebrated by the early settlers of this land as early as 1621. An early record of the celebration lists that there were nearly twice as many indigenous American Indians as there were European settlers at the first Thanksgiving feast. We have so much to give thanks for in this amazing nation.
Often in our daily struggle to get through life, we can forget how blessed we are. Recently I spent several weeks in Mexico attending a Spanish-language school. I go to Mexico often, so I thought I was prepared to live on my own. But I quickly learned how much I still took for granted – in particular, drinking water. No one in Mexico can drink the tap water. Everyone has to buy water or use a filter system. Normally when I go to teach, I am provided with an endless amount of bottled water. But this time I had to get it myself. Keep in mind that I drink a lot of water – now I know just how much. Every other day I had to carry a 20-liter (45-lb) bottle of water three blocks back to where I was staying. It wasn’t terribly hard, and I’m thankful that it was only three blocks away. But more than once after a long day of school and doing homework, I had to calculate if I had enough water to get through the night and morning, or if I had to make the trek to the store for more water.
God commands us to be thankful many times, and living in Christ gives us endless reasons to be thankful. “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Th 5:18) is a powerful verse that tells us we can be thankful in all circumstances even if we’re not thankful for the circumstance. In other words we can be thankful in the midst of difficult, even painful, times because we have hope in Christ.
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God” (Php 4:6). In this passage, the prescription for anxiety is prayer “with thanksgiving.” There is a spiritual dynamic released when we begin thanking God in difficult times. It brings a realignment of our spirits and minds to recognize how much we have from our heavenly Father.
So let’s celebrate the holiday and hopefully have a good meal. But let’s learn how to live a life of thankfulness because of all that God has done for us!