Driving home from Thanksgiving dinner, I got really annoyed at a sign I read outside a church.
"Thanksgiving was never meant to be for one day."
Sometimes (let's face it, lots of times), little things like this really bother me. I thought about the statement for a long time - mainly to try to figure out why it bothered me so much. After some contemplation, I came to the conclusion, that while the words on that letterboard sign are correct, the idea is incomplete. It seems unhelpful to me to nullify the value of a holiday on the holiday itself!!! And while I strongly believe God's command to be thankful ALWAYS, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus, God also commands us to establish "ebenezers" in our lives...memorials to remind us of what God has done for us. Knowing we are a forgetful people, God has called us to establish memorials as safeguards against our forgetfulness. I believe, Thanksgiving is one such memorial.
Yes, in the beginning of America, we did essentially walk into someone else's house, eat their food, move in, and push them out. But that aside, Thanksgiving can be a special time to come together with friends and family - and to set aside some focused time to give thanks to God for His unmerited grace and gifts to us. I am so guilty of this human forgetfulness, that I am truly in need of this time of celebration and remembrance.
We did, in our family, have a great celebration of Thanksgiving...and we are thankful.
