Like it was yesterday, I
can picture standing on the porch with my family, knocking on the door and
highly anticipating the fun time that awaited me. As door was opened the over-powering fragrance
of the large turkey that was roasting in the oven wafted through my senses creating
euphoria that only an exited little kid can feel! The big picture window in the small living
room was fogged up from all the cooking, and the room radiated with the love
that oozed from the hearts of my smiling Grandparents who openly embraced us
with hugs and kisses!
Whenever I walked into
that home I felt secure in the knowledge of the love that was there. It was a place where I could just be me. My younger cousin was recently reminding of
the times we would play games with our very patient Grandfather who would feign
being asleep while we messed up his hair or put cream on his face! That home was a place where I knew that I was
accepted for who I was and was heaped with unconditional love. While I don’t recall too many more of the
details of that Thanksgiving, those feelings that I felt as we walked into that
happy place have permanently etched a lasting spot in my heart. It is a feeling that my wife and I always
strived to have in our home as our children grew up.
Philippians 4:6-7 says “In nothing be anxious; but in everything by
prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be known to
God. And the peace of God which passeth
all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.”
(American Standard Version) The Apostle
is telling us that our prayers offered to our heavenly Father when combined
with our grateful thanks will result in God’s peace guarding our thoughts and
emotions. I think that indescribable
peace is like what I experienced in my Grandparent’s home every time I was
there. Another unreferenced translation that I was reading in our study this
morning describes it as “the peace of God
that beggars description (that sense knowledge can’t understand) shall garrison
as with a company of solders your thoughts in Christ Jesus.”
That thankfulness that
flows from our hearts after we have turned all of our cares upon Him and rest
totally secure in that care is what I want to celebrate with great joy this
Thanksgiving! I believe that is the true
essence of the original Thanksgiving celebration. Those who honored God back in 1621 were
thankful for the peace and security that the plenteous and successful harvest
would afford them as the harsh winter season was drawing near. That winter would be a time of life and not
death as the previous winter had been.
It gave them a hope that their dreams of abundant freedom and life in
the new world would be fulfilled in the years ahead.
I would encourage you as
you celebrate Thanksgiving tomorrow with family and friends to let it also be a
time where you can thank our Heavenly Father for the successful harvest in your
own lives, and like those first settlers, give you a lasting hope and
expectation of His provision for you in your years to come! Like me as a child entering into the love,
joy and peace of my Grandparent’s home, let that first whiff of the Thanksgiving
turkey roasting in the oven fill you with the euphoria of His love and then
spread that feeling throughout the Holiday Season ahead. Have a great Thanksgiving! We’ll see you back here again on Friday! Stay in tune to His Word, and keep asking
yourself… “What am I expecting today?”
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