We need to remember to give thanks at all times for the marvelous gifts our Lord has given us. On Thanksgiving , which was set apart by George Washington as a religious national holiday of thanks to God, we are blest with a special time to think of what is good in our lives. We generally have much more to be thankful for today than the early settlers did, and yet sometimes we lack the faith they had.
Thanksgiving is a good time to slow down and count your blessings. Give thanks this week for everything that is a blessing, big or small.
As I look at these pictures I appreciate so many things...my husband, my family...including this little grandson who lights up our life. I am thankful for the piano, a roof over our heads with adequate heat, for wood floors that are easier to clean than old carpet, for this old lamp that caught my eye years ago in a new shop I was visiting with friends, for whom I am thankful. Try counting. You may perk up a bit.
Sometimes our friend Jim Chilton says things so well, that I must post his piece here for you. And today I am doing just that:
A Thanksgiving Message From A Dollar Bill (21st November 2011)
A favorite passage of our ancestors was Psalm 95: “Come, let us sing for joy to Yahweh; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. For Yahweh is the great God, the great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before Yahweh our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care” (1-7).
Early Thanksgivings in America were celebrated in spite of many hardships and loss. They had joy in their hearts brought on by a deep and abiding peace in the Lord. Today, Thanksgiving is our only cultural “religious” holiday. George Washington, as president, made this proclamation on 3rd October 1789: “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 implore his protection and favor.” He would refer to God as “the great Lord and Ruler of Nations.”
We’ve been told that money talks, and this week we will prove it. In Jesus’ day, He was asked to comment on a Roman coin. Maybe if He were here today, He would ask for a buck and say, “You seem to worship this so much; why don’t you listen to it.”
Take a buck out and look on the back. Above the pyramid are the words, Annuit Coeptus. In 1782 Congress appointed William Barton, a design artist, to propose a national seal. He did, and he included these Latin words, which means, “God has favored our undertakings.” He certainly has!
Psalm 90:17 asserts, “May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us.” Solomon added, “for whoever find me finds life and receives favor from Yahweh” (Proverbs 8:35).
Who gave us our liberty and prosperity? Technology, education, resources, luck? No. “God has favored our undertakings.” Many other peoples lived on this soil before the pilgrims, but something special happened when people came with a kingdom agenda, and our national seal reminds us.
Jim Chilton
thejameschilton@gmail.com
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