This week, the fourth week of November, we will be celebrating the American Holiday of Thanksgiving. What a wonderful time of gathering together with family and loved ones, to give thanks. Now, this is not a Biblical festival in that it cannot be found in the Bible; nevertheless, it is one that was born in the early days of North American exploration, and has its roots in the right type of soil. Let’s look at how it became an official Holiday:

Pilgrims held their second Thanksgiving celebration in 1623 to mark the end of a long drought that had threatened the year’s harvest and prompted Governor Bradford to call for a religious fast. Days of fasting and thanksgiving on an annual or occasional basis became common practice in other New England settlements as well. During the American Revolution, the Continental Congress designated one or more days of thanksgiving a year, and in 1789 George Washington issued the first Thanksgiving proclamation by the national government of the United States; in it, he called upon Americans to express their gratitude for the happy conclusion to the country’s war of independence and the successful ratification of the U.S. Constitution. His successors John Adams and James Madison also designated days of thanks during their presidencies.

In 1817, New York became the first of several states to officially adopt an annual Thanksgiving holiday; each celebrated it on a different day, however, and the American South remained largely unfamiliar with the tradition. In 1827, the noted magazine editor and prolific writer Sarah Josepha Hale—author, among countless other things, of the nursery rhyme “Mary Had a Little Lamb”—launched a campaign to establish Thanksgiving as a national holiday. For 36 years, she published numerous editorials and sent scores of letters to governors, senators, presidents and other politicians. Abraham Lincoln finally heeded her request in 1863, at the height of the Civil War, in a proclamation entreating all Americans to ask God to “commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife” and to “heal the wounds of the nation.” He scheduled Thanksgiving for the final Thursday in November, and it was celebrated on that day every year until 1939, when Franklin D. Roosevelt moved the holiday up a week in an attempt to spur retail sales during the Great Depression. Roosevelt’s plan, known derisively as Franksgiving, was met with passionate opposition, and in 1941 the president reluctantly signed a bill making Thanksgiving the fourth Thursday in November. (History.com, accessed 11/25/13 emphasis mine)

The early Pilgrims came to the New World in search of land they could call their own, and a place where they were free to practice their faith, rather than be forced to observe the faith of the State. In many way, we still struggle with these 2 things here in the U.S. Only now, unlike before, the attacks are mostly on the Christian faith above all else. Why is that? Because the world hates Jesus. Am I being melodramatic or pessimistic? No. I’m simply quoting scripture:

There is much that can be said (and, in fact, is being said all over social media) about the decline of American Culture, and the fact that this nation has completely lost sight of the principles of God, that is not what this holiday is about. This holiday is about giving Thanks to God for His many blessings, and for His grace and mercy that enables us to weather the storms of life in a fallen world. Don’t let the enemy rob you of your thankfulness to God, or tempt you to complain and murmur. Throughout the Bible, thanksgiving (or thankfulness) is expressed through Praise. In fact, in many cases, it is out of our thankfulness to God that we are commanded to praise Him.