The Universal Everyday Holiday

I remember my dad reading from Norman Rockwell's Christmas Book when I was a kid.  One of the stories in the book is called "Christmas Every Day" by William Dean Howells.  A man tells his daughter a story about a little girl who wished every day was Christmas.  To her initial surprise and delight, her wish became true.  But it was not long before she was so tired of everything having to do with celebrating Christmas - the packages, food, and activities - that she wished it would never be Christmas again!  Everyone was sick from eating candy, turkeys were so scarce hummingbirds were being used as substitutes, people lost their tempers from the stress, and everyone was dirt poor.  The moral of the story is the conclusion that Christmas is very special because it is one day a year, and that is enough.  It is possible to have "too much a good thing."

As a believer and follower of Jesus Christ, it is possible to appreciate and thank God for Christ's coming to earth every day out of the year.  Real life does not have to be suspended for me to rejoice that Jesus came to mankind to seek and save the lost.  With how commercialized the holidays have become it would be unreasonable to "celebrate" them daily.  Today is "Thanksgiving" in the United States, and happy Thanksgiving to all my family and friends back home who will be gathering for a special meal, desserts, maybe some football, and prayers of thanksgiving to God for our country and all the blessings He has graciously bestowed upon us.  It is my personal favorite because it is a scriptural holiday that gives glory to God.  One of my pet-peeves is when people call Thanksgiving "Turkey Day."  Instead of focusing on giving God thanks, it places great value and emphasis on a stupid bird over the Creator of the universe.  That is something man excels at, worshiping the creature over the Creator.

Though the celebration of Thanksgiving in America is based upon the historical events of the Pilgrims and American Indian's first meal together and giving thanks to God, this is a holiday for all people for all time.  1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 reads, "Rejoice always, ¹⁷ pray without ceasing, ¹⁸ in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."  When the cultural stuff is stripped away from  traditional celebration of Thanksgiving, the most basic elements are:  rejoicing, prayer, and thanksgiving.  This sums up Thanksgiving very well.  Psalm 118:1 says, "Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever." God always remains good, and His mercies are new every morning.  Whether we are poor or rich, whether Dallas beats the Saints, even if we have no one to share a meal with on Thanksgiving day, God deserves thanks.  When the Grinch stole all the Christmas presents from Who-ville Christmas came just the same.  We can have Thanksgiving without turkey, football, and pumpkin pie.  We should gave thanks to God for everything every day, every moment of the day.  That is the will of God for each of our lives.

Today and every day, may we give God thanks for His goodness and mercy toward us.  Take time to think over how wonderful God is and all He has done.  Let us rejoice with the Psalmist in Psalm 136:1-9, 23-26 (but read the whole passage if you can): "Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. ² Oh, give thanks to the God of gods! For His mercy endures forever. ³ Oh, give thanks to the Lord of lords! For His mercy endures forever: ⁴ To Him who alone does great wonders, For His mercy endures forever; ⁵ To Him who by wisdom made the heavens, For His mercy endures forever; ⁶ To Him who laid out the earth above the waters, For His mercy endures forever; ⁷ To Him who made great lights, For His mercy endures forever--⁸ The sun to rule by day, For His mercy endures forever; ⁹ The moon and stars to rule by night, For His mercy endures forever...²³ Who remembered us in our lowly state, For His mercy endures forever; ²⁴ And rescued us from our enemies, For His mercy endures forever; ²⁵ Who gives food to all flesh, For His mercy endures forever. ²⁶ Oh, give thanks to the God of heaven! For His mercy endures forever."