Happy Thanksgiving! Some of you are confused, others are looking at their calendar, and the rest are thinking that I’ve lost it. Truthfully, yesterday was Happy Thanksgiving Day but I was working on the other two stories, therefore my thanksgiving wish to you had to be delayed a day. And, after the last two devotionals, we NEED something lighter and – well – more thankful and this is the day to do it.
Why Happy Thanksgiving? It was on October 3, 1863, 162-years ago that President Lincoln declared the last Thursday of November to be officially Thanksgiving Day. His proclamation was born out of the unexpected but amazing Union army victory pulled off at Gettysburg.
Through the years, other presidential proclamations had been made for a day of Thanksgiving, starting with George Washington. “Thomas Jefferson, the third president, felt that public demonstrations of piety to a higher power, like that celebrated at Thanksgiving, were inappropriate in a nation based in part on the separation of church and state. Subsequent presidents agreed with him. In fact, no official Thanksgiving proclamation was issued by any president between 1815 and the day Lincoln took the opportunity to thank the Union Army and God for a shift in the country’s fortunes on this day in 1863.
“The last Thursday of November remained the annual day of Thanksgiving from 1863 until 1939. Then, at the tail-end of the Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, hoping to boost the economy by providing shoppers and merchants a few extra days to conduct business between the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, moved Thanksgiving to November’s second-to-last Thursday. In 1941, however, Roosevelt bowed to Congress’ insistence that the last Thursday of November be re-set permanently, without alteration, as the official Thanksgiving holiday.”1
The Psalms are filled with reminders to be thankful people. Psalms 107:1 says, “O giv
e thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.” This is repeated several times. While times change and are filled with what looks like chaos, anger, and violence, we as God’s people can thankfully rejoice because God is ALWAYS good and His mercy ALWAYS endures forever.
My wife shared something with me that was given in a Dorcas Circle devotional. This is really good! If you had today what you thanked God for yesterday, what would you have?
We are all guilty of mindlessly going through a day without really uttering a thanks to the Lord for what we have. I don’t think we do it on purpose. We just get busy with life and living. And while deep in our souls we know that we are thankful, it should be expressed to God. “Thank you, Lord, for the air I breathe, the things I have (enumerate them throughout the day), my job, health, strength, abilities, family, etc.” I’m sure the Lord would like to hear our words of gratitude.
Now, there’s another side to this. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says, “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” I know that this would even include the difficulties and trials we endure and we say, “But, if I had those yesterday, I sure don’t want them today!”
As we study the promises of God on Wednesday nights, a few weeks ago, I presented this one. 2 Corinthians 12:9 tells us, “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” If we want to experience God-strength and the power of Jesus, this is the formula for getting it. We MUST have problems and trials that weaken us. We MUST respond correctly and Biblically. That’s 
when God shines through.
Today, let’s try something as we celebrate Thanksgiving Day’s birth. Try to express gratitude for everything, regardless of how trivial it might seem. Thank you, Lord, for my fork and spoon so that I don’t have to eat my cereal with my fingers; thank you that I have clothes to wear; thank you that my car unlocked, started, there was gas in the tank and air in the tires; thank you for good roads to drive; thank you for that stop sign or speed limit sign and the reminder for safety; thank you for sunshine, rain, cool temps, hot temps, gravity, and all the other forces of nature that are controlled by You… Get the point? Just make today a day filled with gratitude and thanksgiving your prayer without ceasing.
Psalms 69:30 says, “I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving.”
1https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/october-3/lincoln-proclaims-official-thanksgiving-holiday
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