Today the United States pauses for a day of thanksgiving. But since our society has largely jettisoned the concept of a divine governor to whom we owe thanks, the holy-day has become, in most cases, a festival of gluttony, football, and self-recrimination. Secularists will feel undirected gratitude for the happy accidents of prosperity in their primate existence which stand in contrast to the sea of pointlessness which characterizes their daily lives. Social justice warriors will spend the day feeling superior to other people as they lament the colonization, exploitation, and racism upon which this nation was founded. Many people will give no thought at all to the day beyond being thankful not to be at work. They will express their joy in a day of leisure by gorging themselves on food and intoxicating themselves with alcohol before capping the day off with heartburn, nausea, and a hangover. Unbelievers have all the fun.
As Christians we know that our God is the Giver of every good and perfect gift. We owe thanks to him for all the good that we enjoy in this world. Therefore believers should not observe Thanksgiving the way unbelievers do. The Lord may not have consecrated the fourth Thursday in November as a holy day of thanksgiving, but he has commanded his saints to give thanks, and while we ought at all times to do so, it is good and proper especially to do so when the civil magistrate sets aside a particular day for that purpose. So eat the fat, drink the sweet, sing the hymns of Zion, and give thanks to the God of heaven. Make this day one of holy, grateful feasting, and as you eat and drink or whatever you do today, do it to the glory of God. --JME
