11/28/2024
Today we are celebrating Thanksgiving Day in the United States, and we do so as families, a country, and a people of God. As we thank Him for His many blessings we are reminded of the first Thanksgiving celebration in 1621 when the pilgrims of Plymouth gave thanks to the Lord for their year of survival, and His merciful provision.
A pilgrim is a person who journeys to a sacred place for a religious reason, and so it was that the passengers aboard the good ship Mayflower which traveled to the New World as they sought to break away from the Anglican Church of England. Among them was William Bradford, a thirty year old young man, who was one of the framers of the Mayflower Compact that later became the foundation of the Plymouth colony’s government in the new world, he was also one of its first Governors, and eventually wrote the history of this colony and its historic endeavor. He had in mind the Apostle Paul’s Letter to the Hebrews (11:13-16), when he wrote these words…
"they knew they were pilgrims, and looked not much on those things, but lifted up their eyes to the heavens, their dearest country, and quieted their spirits." – William Bradford
By coming to America these voyagers were seeking to live a pious life, much like the Apostles in the New Testament, and in William Bradford's words that we just read, we are hearing for the first time these bold travelers being called pilgrims.
So as we read Hebrews 11:13-16 we read about faith, the promise of God to Abraham, and of all those who have died awaiting Christ and His return. But, we also see a similarity between that biblical journey and the one the pilgrims had embarked upon. Journeys of faith and hope; focused on God, a heavenly country, and His faithful provision, all of this while forsaking the country they left behind... holding only to Him.
“These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.”
Hebrews 11:13-16 ESV
This Thanksgiving I pray that we all thank God for his many blessings, but I also ask that the Lord would renew the pilgrim spirit in us that fuels our quest for Him. I further pray that we once again lift up our eyes toward His heavenly country in which there is a Godly city prepared for us, and that He will be unashamed to call Himself our God when we arrive. Will you join me, whoever you might be, and wherever you happen to call home today, in thanking Him for our circumstances, and His amazing provision over the past year?
Prayer:
Thank you Father for our lives, your provision, and the many blessings you have bestowed upon us over the past year. Thank you especially for our families who have travelled with us through these days, complete with their hardships, sorrows, and sufferings, yet filled also with many merciful moments of great joy. Thank you and hold them Abba, even as we have kept them all the while in our prayers, asking that you keep them safely by our sides, and mercifully by yours. Thank you for the provision and protection you have provided us as we have endured our journey Lord. And Father, look after all those who we have lost over the course of this year, and hear our prayers for their redemption, and certain presence in your eternity company. Holy, Holy, Holy are you our God who has given us this place we have called home, but which only serves to be so as we make our faithful pilgrimage push towards our true homes which are there with you in your heavenly kingdom. Holy are you who eases our suffering in this world, and comforts us in our losses, and sorrowful mourning, as we traverse this earthly valley with Jesus, pressing ever onwards by your grace, and towards your loving arms. We praise you this day, and worship you in the presence of all the world, and the expansive heavenly host above. Yours is the glory that carries us on eagle’s wings to where you await us, and gives us the strength to bear our cross as we follow Jesus. Hear the remorse and the contrition in our voices Father as we pray for your forgiveness of our sins by our emersion in the cleansing blood of your son Jesus Christ. Taste our tears, and hear our soft sobs of regret, over the loud and unrepentant wails and weeping of those who still remain lost in the world. Hear us this day, and every day, as we pray for these lost souls, asking that they come to know Jesus, and through him, and your grace, to find their place with you. It is for these things and many more that we fervently offer our prayers in words, and groaning, on this Thanksgiving Day. It is in this way that we thank you, and your Son Jesus, who intercedes for us even now, for all your fulfilled promises, and blessings, over the past year. Be with us now as we enter into another year, and a new harvest to glorify you.
And all the pilgrims said as one… Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah… Amen.
“Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.”
Genesis 12:7 ESV
“See, I have set the land before you. Go in and take possession of the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their offspring after them.’
Deuteronomy 1:8 ESV
“By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.”
Hebrews 11:9-10 ESV
Rich Forbes