This Thursday, we are all celebrating the public holiday of Thanksgiving. This has been an official holiday since President Abraham Lincoln declared it such on November 26, 1863. But the first feast that’s recognized as a thanksgiving feast predates that by over 200 years, when William Bradford and the pilgrims celebrated a harvest festival with the Indians in 1621. It was a three day celebration in which the Pilgrims gave thanks to God for his goodness in providing such a bountiful harvest. And the pilgrims, joined by 90 Indians, feasted on venison, goose, duck, turkey, fish, and cornbread.
What makes this story especially meaningful is knowing the great trials the pilgrims had been through and what continuously thankful people they were.
William Bradford, along with 101 other pilgrims, departed from Plymouth, England on the ship the Mayflower on September 6, 1620. Their purpose in sailing to America was, in Bradford’s own words, ‘for the propagating and advancing the gospel of the kingdom of Christ in those remote parts of the world.” After a dangerous voyage, the Mayflower landed at Cape Cod on Nov. 11, 1620.
What’s was the pilgrims response? Giving thanks. They fell upon their knees and blessed the God of Heaven, who had brought them safely across the ocean.
Having arrived so late in the year, the pilgrims were without adequate housing or food that first winter. The company became disease-ridden, and sometimes 2 or 3 people died each day. In whole, only 44 of the 102 pilgrims survived that first winter. And yet, Bradford wrote that there were 7 people who were in good health throughout the winter and they devoted themselves to fetch firewood, cook, and tend to the sick.
What’s was the pilgrim’s response? Gratitude for these 7 healthy people. Bradford wrote: “And yet the Lord so upheld these persons, as in this general calamity they were not at all infected either with sickness or lameness.” He gave the Lord the credit for these 7 healthy people.
And then the Pilgrims were befriended by two Indians, King Massasoit, who made peace with them, and Squanto, who taught them how to farm. And so at the harvest, when God blessed their crops, it was then that the Pilgrims had the thanksgiving feast with the Indians.
This feast was not a one-off time of thanksgiving for the pilgrims. Even though they suffered greatly, they were a continually thankful people.
According to the Bible, giving thanks is very significant. Giving thanks recognizes that God is God, that we are dependent upon him, and everything good we have comes from him. “Give thanks to the LORD for he is good!” (Psalm 107:1). Those who don’t give thanks refuse to see that God is God and that he is good. It’s an attack on his sovereign goodness.
It’s no wonder that Paul says in Romans 1 that one of the two great sins that God charges against sinful mankind, and what subsequently incites his wrath, is a refusal to give thanks (Romans 1:21).
Giving thanks is like the thermometer of one’s spiritual life. If we are giving thanks to God, that reveals spiritual health and life. But if we do not give thanks, that reveals that we are spiritually cold and dead.
So this Thanksgiving, give thanks to God. Let this holiday be an overflow of a life of thanksgiving. Give thanks always and in very circumstance (Ephesians 5:20). Give thanks for the steadfast love and goodness of God. Give thanks for his wonderful deeds to you. Give thanks for the great salvation that you have in Christ. Give thanks for his sovereign good purposes in your trials. Give thanks for God’s grace at work in other believers. Give thanks for all the blessings that he has promised, but has yet to give you.
There is a real darkness in our country with our profound ingratitude to God. There is envy, self-pity, and malice all around us. By God’s grace and for the glory of Christ, let us be bright lights in this region by abounding in thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving!