Thanksgiving
Psalms 100:3-5. Know ye that the Lord He is God: it is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves, we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.
America began “in The Name of God, Amen.” These opening words of our nations’ first self-governing document, the Mayflower Compact, is the cornerstone of our present Constitution and of our republic. The Pilgrims stated they came to the New World to glorify God and to advance the Christian faith. The Pilgrims took their name from the “pilgrims” of I Peter 2.
In September 1620, one hundred and two passengers braved the Atlantic Ocean for the purpose of freely practicing their faith in Almighty God. After a sixty-six-day crossing, they reached land. Unfortunately, due to the bitter winter that followed only half of the original passengers and crew survived to see their first spring.
It was that spring that God’s providential hand led Squanto to aid the weary settlers and teach them to effectively live off the New England land. It was after
the settler’s first successful corn harvest in 1621, that Governor William Bradford declared a feast to praise God for the harvest. History shows us that on the first Thanksgiving Day both Pilgrims and Indians praised God for His great goodness towards them. In 1820, antiquarian Alexander Young noted that “this 1621 feast was the first Thanksgiving, the harvest festival of New England.”
The general story of the first Thanksgiving is well-known all over America. But the story does not end there. In 1789, Congress approved the Bill of Rights, the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution. Congress then “recommended a day of public thanksgiving and prayer” to thank God for blessing America. President Washington declared November 26, 1789, as the first national day of Prayer and thanksgiving to the Lord. Although the first national Thanksgiving was proclaimed in 1777, it was not established as a national Holiday until 1863 by President Lincoln. Every President continued to do the same until 1941 when Congress officially made
Thanksgiving a national holiday.
Interestingly, the famous imagery of the Pilgrims and Indians eating together did not become commonplace until the latter half of the 19th century, after the publishing of Longfellow’s famous poem, The Courtship of Miles
Standish and the finding of Governor Bradford’s original manuscript titled Of Plymouth Plantation. By the beginning of the 20th century, the Pilgrims and their first Thanksgiving was a common teaching tool. It was around this time that the idea that the Pilgrims ate turkey grew in popularity, creating this popular Thanksgiving tradition. Edward Winslow’s account of the 1621 feast noted that the governor sent four men “fowling” and that the natives brought deer.
What the commercialization of the holiday fails to tell you, however, is the deep faith in God these early Pilgrims held. The Pilgrims and natives gathered around their tables on that cold day in 1621 for one purpose – to praise the Lord God Jehovah for His protection and blessings. Let us never forget to lift our voices and praise God for His blessings on our lives as well.
