It's just a few days now and another year will have whizzed by and Thanksgiving is once again
become an important event in our lives. Each year in November, we set aside one
day to give thanks for the things we have. The occasion is one with a long history
in our country. On November 1, 1771, Samuel Adams authored the first
Thanksgiving Proclamation “It is therefore recommended to set apart Thursday
the eighteenth day of December next, for solemn thanksgiving and praise, that
with one heart and one voice the good people may express the grateful feelings
of their hearts and consecrate themselves to the service of their divine
benefactor.”
If you notice in Mr. Adams proclamation, December 18th
was his chosen day for Thanksgiving. It has been celebrated as a federal
holiday every year since 1863, when, during the Civil War, President Abraham
Lincoln proclaimed a national day of "Thanksgiving and Praise to our
beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens", to be celebrated on the
last Thursday in November.
Both Mr. Adams and President Lincoln’s focus around
Thanksgiving was towards God our Father and His work. Much has changed since
Mr. Adams and President Lincoln penned their words. Their understanding was
that God’s focus is on Love and loving one another and not on “Things”.
It really wasn’t all that long ago that when folks
celebrated Thanksgiving, the focus was upon others. A great deal has changed. Our
society today has become one of material objects and the quest to obtain more
of them. In some homes, the Thanksgiving Prayer at the dinner table could very
well sound something like this. “Thank you Lord for the new iphone, computer,
car, ……..”
Since when did material things become more important than
people? I don’t really have the answer to that question myself but it certainly
has happened. It’s pretty difficult to not see how “Material Things” have
become the most important aspect of some folks lives. Even to some Christians,
it’s easy to be caught up in the trend. It certainly isn’t what our Lord
teaches.
In Mark 12:30-31, Jesus answered a Scribe’s question about
which commandment was the most important. Jesus said, “And you shall love the Lord your God with
all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your
strength.' The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'
There is no other commandment greater than these."
I know it’s not a favorite thought but when we leave this
world, which we all do eventually, none of us are taking anything with us. I like
the way our Pastor at church put it. “Have you ever seen a hearse pulling a U
hall trailer?”
There are some types of riches that we will be taking with
us, or probably more accurately, have saved up. These however aren’t of a
physical nature. Mat 6:19-21 tells us,
"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and
rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves
treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do
not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be
also.”
When we love others and invest ourselves in the
welfare of others, we are not only doing what our Lord desires us to do but we are
“laying up for ourselves treasures in Heaven.” It is a comforting thought to
know for a certainty that Love transcends our physical lives when that time
does come. Our Lord’s focus was and still is on other people and that focus was
based on His love for us all. Shouldn’t we also strive to make that our life’s
focus? No physical saving plan on earth can produce the dividends that equals
God’s.
To all our readers, we wish you a blessed and happy Thanksgiving.
