Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! His faithful love endures forever. -Psalm 107:1
Many countries have a thanksgiving holiday, a day set aside in the fall to give thanks to God for the harvest crop and the blessings He has provided over the past year. Although we Americans like to claim it for ourselves, it is believed that Europe and even Canada had a tradition of setting aside a day of thanks long before the Pilgrims and Native Americans had their first turkey dinner together.
As time progressed and our country became more organized, Abraham Lincoln declared the fourth Thursday in November an official day of thanks- a day designated for giving thanks to God for what He has done for us.
Washington, D.C.
October 3, 1863
By the President of the United States of America.
A Proclamation.
The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle or the ship; the axe has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom. No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the City of Washington, this Third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the United States the Eighty-eighth.
By the President: Abraham Lincoln
Before this declaration by Lincoln, each state designated their own day of thanks, which differed from state to state. Our ancestors and the founders of our country felt that giving thanks to God for our blessings was so important, they wanted the entire nation to do so in unity on the same day.
Thanksgiving isn’t something you celebrate, it is something you do. It is a holiday that requires action- to give thanks to God. Everything we are and everything that we have is from Him and of Him and ultimately for His glory. (Psalm 24:1, Deut. 10:14) The very breath in our lungs is by His hand. (Job 33:4)
I encourage you to spend your Thanksgiving the way it was meant to be spent- by giving thanks to God. Take some time and reflect on the blessings He has given. Read His word. Share some of what He has done in your life with others.
Thanksgiving isn’t just for one day a year. Spend some time every day thanking God for the blessings in Your life. As rough as your life might seem, there is always something to be thankful for.
I will give to the Lord thanks due to His righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High. -Psalm 7:17