My Thoughts on Thanksgiving

Have you ever asked yourself about the meaning of Thanksgiving in America? As you celebrate Thanksgiving this year, remember to retain the original gratefulness to God that has always been the spirit of the oldest of all American holidays. (Below are representative examples of the scores of Thanksgiving proclamations penned by various Founding Fathers.):
[Congress] recommended [a day of] . . . thanksgiving and praise [so] that “the good people may express the grateful feelings of their hearts and join . . . their supplication that it may please God, through the merits of Jesus Christ, to forgive [our sins] and . . . to enlarge [His] kingdom which consisteth in righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.” Continental Congress, 1777 – written by SIGNERS OF THE DECLARATION SAMUEL ADAMS AND RICHARD HENRY LEE

[I] appoint . . . a day of public Thanksgiving to Almighty God . . . to [ask] Him that He would . . . pour out His Holy Spirit on all ministers of the Gospel; that He would . . . spread the light of Christian knowledge through the remotest corners of the earth; . . . and that He would establish these United States upon the basis of religion and virtue. GOVERNOR THOMAS JEFFERSON, 1779

[I] appoint . . . a day of public thanksgiving and praise . . . to render to God the tribute of praise for His unmerited goodness towards us . . . [by giving to] us . . . the Holy Scriptures which are able to enlighten and make us wise to eternal salvation. And [to] present our supplications...that He would forgive our manifold sins and . . . cause the benign religion of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to be known, understood, and practiced among all the inhabitants of the earth. GOVERNOR JOHN HANCOCK, 1790

The late Dr. D. James Kennedy said it well when he said that we should remind ourselves of and remember to give thanks for “all the good and pleasant gifts from above that we enjoy, one thing becomes evident: If God has done so much for us, there is no need to be anxious about anything. Not only does thanksgiving dissolve anxiety, it transforms the commonplace into the sacred. When we give thanks, we remind ourselves of the presence of God.”
Your gratitude often determines your altitude, and that my friend is an attitude! An anonymous once wrote that “Gratitude can turn a negative into a positive. Find a way to be thankful for your troubles and they can become your blessing.” I say Amen to that! So on Thanksgiving Day remember that “in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Chris Jesus for you.” (I Thessalonians 5:18) From my family to yours have a Happy Thanksgiving!