The Thanksgiving holiday is upon us once again. Once we get past the thoughts of how much work is involved in preparing for all the Thanksgiving festivities, we generally find ourselves looking forward to family, fellowship, fun, and last, but not least, FOOD.
Speaking of food, I’ve always found it utterly amazing that the most appetizing dishes suddenly began to lose their allure and appeal after finishing off two or three generous helpings. Oh well, it was delicious while it lasted. But not to worry, we can spend the rest of the day and night nibbling on the leftovers.
While there’s nothing wrong with enjoying our family and the holiday festivities, it’s sometimes easy, in the midst of it all, to forget the real point of the holiday: thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is simply expressing gratitude to God for His abundant goodness and grace toward us.
If the truth be known, we have more to be thankful for than we could possibly recollect. Too often we tend to think that we have little of this world’s good for which to be thankful. However, what we might think to be a modest meal at Thanksgiving would be a fabulous feast for millions of people in today’s world. Sadly, we Americans often overlook just how blessed we are.
Allow me to illustrate my point with the following:
A 12-year-old boy named David was born without an immune system. He underwent a bone marrow transplant in order to correct the deficiency. Up to that point he had spent his entire life in a plastic bubble in order to prevent exposure to common germs, bacteria, and viruses that could kill him. He lived without ever knowing human contact. When asked what he’d like to do if and when released from his protective bubble, he replied, “I want to walk barefoot on grass, and touch my mother’s hand.”
As we sit around our tables this Thanksgiving Day enjoying the blessings and bounty of God, may we be careful to be “thankful for the little things.” Like the boy above, we may find that what others take for granted can be the grandest blessing of all. “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.” (Psalm 100:4—KJV).
