Sing and make music from our heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

~Ephesians 5:19-20 NIV

On Thanksgiving Day, many of us will find ourselves counting our blessings. So as I do, I pray we’ll remember the privileges and blessings of living in the United States.

A Special Day

A few years ago, I purchased a book by William Federer called American Minute, Notable Events of American Significance Remembered on the Date They Occurred. In it, the author presents a one-page description of 365 significant historical events, each falling on a different day of the year.

Here is Federer’s entry for the fourth Tuesday in November 1789.

On that day, November 26, 1789, George Washington responded to a request from both Houses of Congress requesting that the people of the United States observe a national day of public Thanksgiving and prayer.

Our first President then proclaimed that our “citizens should unite and render our sincere and humble thanks to God” for the opportunity to “peaceably establish a form of government for our safety and happiness.” The Declaration of Independence was made in 1789, only thirteen years after the historic events of 1776. Therefore, the trials of the Revolutionary War were fresh, as were the miraculous events that made it successful.

A Special Author

Washington further proclaimed that November 26 be devoted to the service of God, who is “the beneficent Author of all the good that was or will be.” This would be a day for all to give thanks for the “peaceable and rational manner in which we have been able to establish constitutions of government” and “particularly for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed . . . to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue.”

Our Congress and President wished to acknowledge that our new nation had come to exist only with God’s help, a “great and glorious Being.”

Thankfully, 235 years later, Thanksgiving Day remains a uniquely American holiday. Some may have downgraded it to “Friendsgiving” and others to the day before Black Friday, but many of us still connect Thanksgiving with God’s blessings.

A Special Honor

Today, our nation faces trials of its own. These include lab-created diseases, the redefinition of basic human biology, and attacks on long-held morals. It also involves the sanctity of life and the Constitution. At this time of Thanksgiving, we must look to God’s Word for guidance and pray as those before us did.

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him and bless His name. For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations.  

~Psalm 100:4-5 NKJV

Let us proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving and tell others about God’s wondrous works.

Dear Father, thank You for giving me a home in this great country. Thank You for its godly beginning and for sustaining it over two centuries. Thank You for every blessing I enjoy because of Your grace and mercy. In Jesus’ name, amen.

 

Genre: Non-fiction

Copyright 2024: Counting Our Blessings: Caroline Powers: All Rights Reserved