Returning Thanks
Text: Luke 17:11-19 Jesus Cleanses Ten Lepers
Listen to the language of the proclamation published in the Chronicle of Freedom on November 5th, 1782, before the first observance of our national holiday of Thanksgiving (from Wikipedia):
"By the United States in Congress assembled, Proclamation: It being the indispensable duty of all nations, not only to offer up their supplications to Almighty God, the giver of all good, for His gracious assistance in a time of distress, but also in a solemn and public manner, to give Him praise for His goodness in general, and especially for great and signal interpositions of His Providence in their behalf; therefore... the observation of Thursday... next as a day of SOLEMN THANKSGIVING to GOD for all His mercies; and they do further recommend to all ranks to testify their gratitude to God for His goodness by a cheerful obedience to His laws and by promoting, each in his station, and by his influence, the practice of true and undefiled religion, which is the great foundation of public prosperity and national happiness."
How times have changed! If most of us pay any attention to Thanksgiving, it is as no more than a day off work, or the day before we go steadfastly into battle on Black Friday to sooth our covetousness and greed. Many look at it as a lot of work to prepare a meal for many guests that, after a day or days of preparation, is consumed in twenty minutes and forgotten as we slip into a football and turkey coma. For the majority of Americans, even Christians, Thanksgiving is no more than a pause or a quick table prayer with family and friends. Most of us certainly don't think of it as a "national day of prayer, humiliation, and thanksgiving."
All of us are guilty at some point or another of being caught up in the bad habits and sins of our culture. Most of us have a solid prayer life. But when was the last time we returned thanks to the Lord? We pray for a lot of things. God provides them richly and abundantly - even the ones we forget to pray for. But how often do we stop and return to the source to thank Him after receiving his abundant mercies?