Summary: You probably heard the history of American Thanksgiving in elementary school. In 1621, the Pilgrims gave thanks for their first harvest in America. They invited 90 Native Americans to join them for a big feast. But historians say that settlers of the New World, even before the Puritan Pilgrims, held days of Thanksgiving. They often celebrated the arrival of supply ships, good crops, or safe passages of new colonists. The community would stop all of their work and join together to eat and be thankful to God for survival. Thanksgiving Day should be a reminder to us that we ought to be thankful more than one time a year. First Timothy 4 in the Bible says that “everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.” Thanksgiving day is a good time to be thankful for the blessings God has given us, but why stop there? We should have many thanksgiving celebrations throughout the year. Any time God blesses us is cause for celebration. So, the next time you recognize a big or small blessing, stop everything and invite your friends over for dinner. Especially invite your friends who do not yet know Jesus. They can see what true thankfulness is like, and they will want to join in on the celebration of what God is doing. This is Luis Palau.
