Thanks to God

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

The origin of America’s Thanksgiving Day:

Inasmuch as the great Father has given us this year an abundant harvest of Indian corn, wheat, peas, beans, squashes, and garden vegetables, and had made the forests to abound with game and the sea with fish and clams, and inasmuch as He has protected us from the ravages of the savages, has spared us from pestilence and disease, has granted us freedom to worship God according to the dictates of our own conscience. Now I, your magistrate, do proclaim that all ye Pilgrims, with your wives and ye little ones, do gather at ye meeting house, on ye hill, between the hours of 9 and 12 in the day time, on Thursday, November 29th, of the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred and twenty-three and the third year since ye Pilgrims landed on ye Pilgrim Rock, there to listen to ye pastor and render thanksgiving to ye Almighty God for all His blessings. 

– William Bradford, Ye Governor of ye Plymouth Colony, November 29, 1623.

Thanksgiving is an annual reminder of America's Christian roots that goes back to the Pilgrims, we gave thanks to God. They had landed in early December of 1620, and about 50 percent of the Pilgrims died that first winter of 1621. But they were men and women of the Book and they believed the Word of God. There is nothing Americans cherish more than their freedom; and the origins of that freedom can be traced back to the Pilgrims. You may be surprised that the 1828 Webster's dictionary defines the word "Pilgrim" as one that has only a temporary residence on earth. Their purpose: " In the name of God, Amen ... by the Grace of God ... having undertaken, for the Glory of God, and advancements of the Christian faith" in religious liberty and freedom. 

May their steadfast faith and devotion to their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ be an example and inspire us all (in good times and bad times) to do the same in godliness and holiness. Give thanks to God.

In Christ, Brian