English: “The First Thanksgiving at Plymouth” (1914) By Jennie A. Brownscombe (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Today, many of us will eat too much food, watch a lot of football, and enjoy the company of friends and family that we love.  This tradition that we call Thanksgiving Day is most often associated with the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock as they celebrated the “first Thanksgiving”  Others argue that it was actually Spaniards in the 16th century that celebrated the first Thanksgiving feast in America. One thing we know for certain is that the first official Thanksgiving celebration that became a yearly tradition was proclaimed by Abraham Lincoln in 1863 – right in the middle of the Civil War.  He called this national day of celebration one of  “Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.”

Most of us living in the United States have much to be thankful for as, by and large, we have so much more materially than a great percentage of the population of the rest of the world – so much so that even some of the poorest in this country would be considered rich by those standards.  As we enjoy the grace that God has extended to us so richly today, let us remember to give great thanks to him daily, and share the joy and hope that we have in Jesus Christ with others, and pray that they will share in His salvation, which is freely given.

With love and best wishes, I leave you today with three verses from a great Psalm of thanksgiving to the Lord (Psalm 105):

Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name;

make known his deeds among the peoples!

 Sing to him, sing praises to him;

tell of all his wondrous works!

Glory in his holy name;

let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice!

/Bob’s boy

___________________

some images © V. Gilbert & Arlisle F. Beers

Please note: I did not design the reading plan that I am following in my blog.  All of my comments in this blog, however, are solely my responsibility.  When reading ANY commentary, you should ALWAYS refer first to the scripture, which is God’s unchanging and unfailing word. Reading schedules, as well as a link to the site where you can get the reading plan that I’m currently following for yourself can be found on the “Bible Reading Schedules” page of my website at http://graceofourlord.com.  For questions and help, please see the “FAQ” and “Summaries” pages there.