Today’s “Thanksgiving” celebration is very different than when it was proclaimed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863, at the height of the Civil War. The proclamation entreated all Americans to ask God to “commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife” and to “heal the wounds of the nation.”
Oh, that we would celebrate this day in unity and prayer, asking God to “heal the wounds of the nation!” It’s not about the day off work, the turkey and mashed potatoes or the parades. It is a day set aside to thank God for His bountiful blessings, preferably together with those we hold most dear. After all, without God, we have nothing.
John 1:3 - “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.” Romans 8:32 - “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” Matthew 22:36-37 – “Master, which [is] the great commandment in the law? 37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” 1Thessalonians 5:18 - “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”
Ponder this: What if you woke up today with only the things that you thanked God for yesterday?
Artist/Writer: Don Moen
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