Thanksgiving Day or Turkey Day?
The Ruebenites and the Gadites gave the altar this name: A Witness Between Us that the Lord is God Joshua 22:34
Preparing for Thanksgiving usually involves a lot work. Just ask Mom and/or Grandma. So, is it worth all that effort if it’s nothing more than ‘Turkey Day’? Is all the preparation only about entertaining a house full of family and friends who may give token thanks, but who really only care about gorging themselves and watching football?
It’s easy to forget that holidays like Thanksgiving have a reason behind them—something significant we are supposed to remember. Thanksgiving serves as a point of reference to remind us of something we are prone to forget in a time of plenty—that the Lord is God, He is good, and He is the source of all our goodness. Therefore, He is worthy of our thanksgiving.
When Abraham Lincoln issued his proclamation declaring a National Day of Thanksgiving, he described its purpose as “a day of thanksgiving and praise to Almighty God, the beneficent Creator and Ruler of the Universe.” In his proclamation, Lincoln reminded Americans that we have much for which to be thankful—
God’s protection, His favor, His blessings of abundant reward, and His inspiration to fight for justice and righteousness with courage and resolve.
As the Israelites were about to enter the Promised Land, Joshua also challenged them to remember God’s goodness, and to give thanks and praise to Him as their Deliverer. Knowing that humans are prone to forget, he commanded them to build an altar as a witness between them and the generations that would follow of their pledge to worship God and Him alone. Thus, the name given to this altar was A WITNESS BETWEEN US THAT THE LORD IS GOD.
As it was then, so it is still today. We all need those reference points to celebrate and remind us of essential realities. We need reminders of who we are, why we are here and Who sustains us. Such festivities serve as a witness between us and the next generations of these grand truths:
- The Lord is God, and God alone;
- The Lord is our Creator and supplier of all our needs;
- The Lord is worthy of our praise and worship because, as David says in Psalm 16: “You are my Lord, and apart from You I have no good thing.”
As you plan and prepare for this year’s Thanksgiving celebration wondering if it’s really worth all the effort, pause… take a deep breath, and remember what it’s all about. Thanksgiving is more than a gorge-yourself-till-you-puke feast and family gathering. It is a solemn and joyous witness to God’s faithfulness and goodness.
So, here’s a suggestion. This Thanksgiving create a witness altar of your own. Make it the center piece of your table. Build the witness altar with medium-sized stones on which each person writes a word or phrase expressing a reason to be thankful to God. Go around the table and share why you wrote what you put on the stone, then pile the stones in the center of the table as an altar and top it with a sign that says: A Witness Between Us That the Lord is God.
Make this a Thanksgiving that remembers who God is and what He has done. He is, after all, the Almighty God, beneficent Creator and Ruler of the Universe. So, thank Him, and let’s stop calling it ‘Turkey Day’, okay? That’s for the birds!
Calvin Harper has not provided biographical information. Calvin has written articles for Gospel Shaped Familyand Christian Grandparenting Network.
Josh Mulvihill is the Executive Director of Church and Family Ministry at Renewanation. He served as a pastor for nearly 20 years, has a PhD in Family Ministry, serves on the board of Awana, and is the author or editor of ten books on parenting and grandparenting including Biblical Grandparenting, Preparing Children for Marriage, Biblical Worldview, and his latest 50 Things Every Child Needs to Know Before Leaving Home. He is married to Jen, they have five children, and live on a family farm in Minnesota. Josh blogs at GospelShapedFamily.com, enjoys camping with friends, reading a great book around the bonfire, and catching big fish in Minnesota lakes.
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