Thanksgiving

I love the fall of the year...the beautiful colors of the trees, the crisp morning air, and Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is probably my favorite holiday. Christmas has become so commercial and the "I want..." is the loudest voice heard. There are public battles over religious displays in stores and government offices and whether it is appropriate for someone to say Merry Christmas rather than Happy Holidays. Kinda gives one the bah-humbugs.

New Years is about parties, drinking and making resolutions that can be broken soon. Easter is about Spring and eggs and bunnies - not much Jesus to be found in any of that.

But Thanksgiving is a time of reflection; a time to join with family and friends around the dinner table and just celebrate being together. It doesn't seem to upset the "separationists" (as in separation of church and state) if someone thanks God for his provision during the past year.

Even our "pagan" Christmas is about giving to others; New Years is about starting over with a clean slate and Spring is about new birth or re-birth. Sounds to me like pretty deep theology even for those who don't want to ever mention Christ or God in connection with these holidays.

God gave the greatest gift to mankind by sending His Son to earth as an act of love. It is through Him that we can have new life and a clean slate through the forgiveness of our sins by His blood shed on Calvary's cross. In addition, EVERY good and perfect gift comes from Him. Every beat of my heart, every breath I take, every, everything that I have in my life - salvation, people, stuff, health, income - all of it is because of God's graciousness to me. And for that I WILL say "Thank You, Lord!"

To set aside a time of reflection and thanksgiving should be part of my day, each day. But just in case the busyness of life gets in the way, Thanksgiving provides the perfect opportunity to do it.