I sincerely hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. We all have so much to be thankful for in the United States where we live. We have more freedom (than most) to worship the way we want. We have more freedom (than most) to live and think the way we want. We have more freedom (than most) to obtain any level of education and become anything we want to become. Other countries do not have the level of freedom that we enjoy in the United States.
I realize that our freedom is not shy of problems; because we have a bunch of them. But try to put all the negativity aside when celebrating Thanksgiving and think about how fortunate we are to enjoy the freedoms that we have.
And never forget the strength, dedication and perseverance of the Pilgrims during the first Thanksgiving. They were starving to death and the Indians saved their life by teaching them how to live off the land. Both cultures joined together and sat down to a beautiful feast that was plentiful and bountiful. The original Americans demonstrated they had no prejudice against others who were different from them (except about 200 years later when they decided they wanted the Indian’s land.)
But in 1621 when the Pilgrims established the first Thanksgiving, there was no prejudice between them when they sat down to “break bread” and eat together. This reminds me of a song I used to sing when I was a child. It goes like this:
“Red and yellow, black and white. They are precious in His sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world.”
But simply giving thanks is not all of what Thanksgiving is about. You must also learn how to give to others and receive thanks for your efforts. If you are spending Thanksgiving with family and friends, be sure to take a portion of your dinner and give to someone in the neighborhood who lives alone. It only takes 10 minutes of your time and the internal rewards you receive are priceless. If this is not possible, look for other ways to reach out and help others. You may find that there are many more things in life that are much more important than money.
Thanksgiving is a holiday that makes the United States unique from all other countries. I urge you to actually take time right now and reflect on the positive areas of your life so they will replace the negativity and create a more peaceful and enjoyable Thanksgiving day for you, your friends and family.
May God guide you in His ways …
The 1611 King James Bible
If you are unable to locate a copy of The King James Bible AV 1611 edition in order to compare the verses above to your Bible, click here to view the online version available on this website or click here to download the entire AV 1611 King James Bible in PDF format for reading offline. You must have Adobe Acrobat reader installed on your computer to view the PDF version. Click here and download this free reader if you do not have Adobe Acrobat reader.
