One day Sherwood came running up to his dad waving a calendar. He told
Dad, “I’ve got a great idea. “What would that be?”, said Dad. Sherwood said that we should put Thanksgiving and Christmas together. That way we’d have one great big holiday. “We could call it Thanksmus, or maybe Christgiving!” “Why would we want to do that?” Dad asked. “It would be a great holiday!”, Sherwood said. “We could put up the same
decorations. The church could have a special Sunday program every week for a month. We could have plenty of time to shop. We could have big tasty meals every weekend. school vacation would last a month. The possibilities go on and on!”
Dad said, “That’s not a great idea.” Sherwood didn’t understand. He said, “Why don’t you like it? Why don’t
you think it’s a great idea?” “Let me explain”, said Dad. “To begin with we need to understand that they
are both special. Remember, they are not important just because of all the things people choose to do to celebrate them. They are two separate and very different important things. “First of all, Thanksgiving Day is important because we ought to have a special day set aside to give thanks to God for all his goodness to us in our everyday lives. He takes care of us every day. It’s not really just all about good food and family visits.” “Then, Christmas is the day we have chosen to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. That’s when we celebrate how God’s love
has saved us for heaven and given us life eternal. It’s not celebrating the gifts under the tree but God’s greatest gift to us. His only begotten Son.” It had never crossed Sherwood’s mind to think about Thanksgiving and Christmas that way. He promised himself that he would
never again forget to thank God not just on Thanksgiving for His blessings for our lives today but every day and always remember the Christmas blessings of the birth of Jesus Christ and all that He did for us.
By M. D. Bult With Illustrations by Anna Campbell Bult
It’s the holiday season! What a perfect time of year to focus on what we’re grateful for. Most of us are surrounded by family and friends, a with praise and thanksgiving!
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It is easy to allow the trials and cares of this sinful world to drag us down, easy to forget to thank God in our prayers. We must remember that even in our darkest hours, God has given us an endless supply of things to be grateful for! For starters: He sent His only Son to take our sins away so that we may have eternal life through Him! He also sent His Holy Spirit to live in us, and He promises to never leave us or forsake us. In addition to all this, He lavishes innumerable smaller blessings upon us, His people, from day to day.
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” – James 1:17
These “smaller” blessings are all around us, and we must strive to keep a lookout for them. We should thank God for the cool weather and the blue sky. We should thank Him for the rain which nourishes the earth on stormy days. We should praise Him for each person He has put into our lives. Even in our struggles we can feel grateful that He is with us, using our problems to work out His amazing plan for us – whether we understand that plan or not. Often simply taking a few minutes out of our day to thank God for His blessings – big ones and smaller ones – can change our attitudes and lift our weary spirits. Whether it’s a joyful, carefree Sunday afternoon during Thanksgiving not mean we will always be cheerful. We will each face deep sorrow at some point in our lives, but even then, we can still give thanks by the Holy Spirit’s power. In Christ there is always much to be thankful for. What a marvelous gift!
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
“All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord, and all your saints shall bless you!” – Psalm 145:10 16
The Associate Reformed Presbyterian
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