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Thanksgiving

"Pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."¹

Today in the U.S.A. it is Thanksgiving Day, first celebrated "in 1621 to commemorate the harvest reaped by the Plymouth Colony after a harsh winter. In that year Governor William Bradford proclaimed a day of thanksgiving. The colonists celebrated it as a traditional English harvest feast, to which they invited the local Wampanoag Indians."²

While it's fun to get together with family and friends on this special day, every day needs to be a thanksgiving day for the Christian—and especially for those of us who live in the free world. And may we always be thankful to God for his eternal love shown to each and every one of us in giving his Son, Jesus Christ, to die in our place to pay the just penalty for all our sins.

A Thanksgiving Prayer

    Dear Lord,
    Please give me…
    A few friends who know me
        and love me still,
    A thankful heart to give you praise
        always and in everything,
    A trusting mind to keep on believing in
        you no matter what the future brings,
    A humble, pleasing personality,
    A teachable disposition,
    A thoughtful, kind, and caring touch,
    A forgiving and understanding spirit,
    A loving and accepting attitude to communicate
        your love to every life I touch,
    A worthwhile work into which I can put my
        best efforts and thereby help make my
        world a better place in which to live, and
    A life that will make a difference not only
        in my world, but also in my street and,
        most of all, in my home.³

            – Dick Innes

1. 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18 (NIV).
2. Infoplease: http://tinyurl.com/995tm
3. See this poem beautifully presented at http://www.actsweb.org/prayer_thanksgiving.php.

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