History of Thanksgiving



Don't let anyone fool you or tell you otherwise, Thanksgiving is a 100% Christian holiday. This holiday was started by Christian pilgrims and intended only to celebrate our gratefulness to God for all His blessings.

 

When the pilgrims left for America from Plymouth, England on September 6, 1620, they began their journey in prayer asking God for traveling mercies. God answered their prayers and gave them safe journeys. God kept the 102 pilgrims safe for over two months travel through harsh elements of a vast storm-tossed sea.

However, the pilgrims were not prepared for the harsh New England weather that was to be their first winter in America. After landing in present day Massachusetts on December 11, 1620, they only had time to set-up hasty shelters and virtually no time to stock food supplies before the onset of a very harsh winter. By the time spring arrived, nearly half of the pilgrims died from starvation and sickness.

Even after all this suffering, the pilgrims never lost their faith and hope for God to save them. Everything they did up to this point was done in prayer. Before leaving England, they prayed. After arriving in Massachusetts, they prayed before signing the "Mayflower Compact", which was America's first document of civil and self-government. And after a very harsh winter and beginning of spring in the New World, they again prayed to God for his deliverance.

God again answered their prayers and sent the Indians to help the pilgrims. With the help of the Indians, the pilgrims reaped a bountiful harvest their first summer in America. The grateful pilgrims declared a three-day feast to celebrate God's graciousness starting on December 13, 1621. Just over their one year anniversary of landing on Plymouth Rock.

While this is not considered to be the first actual Thanksgiving in America. It was the first Thanksgiving Festival that was held in America. Actual Thanksgiving holiday celebrations can be traced as far back as 1607 in Virginia. Certainly, the pilgrims had good reason to be THANKFUL and set the example for all us by thanking God for his blessings.

 

The Thanksgiving holiday was unofficially introduced in 1789 by President George Washington. As a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church, he declared that the Thanksgiving holiday would be the first Thursday in November. It wasn't until 1941 that Congress permanently established the fourth Thursday of each November as a national holiday.
Let's all remember to thank God for all the many blessings He has bestowed upon us. God is good! If you agree, please pass this on.

by James Apple Jr.

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