Cornerstone

Luke 15:11-32

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. Isa. 53:6

My wife got me a GPS (Global Positioning System) for Christmas! I had been hinting for a long time that I wanted one. She gave no indication that she was impressed with my great need. When we found them deeply discounted and we were about to leave for a 1600 mile trip to visit our son’s family in California for Christmas, however, I was able to “sell” her on the wonderful benefits of the technological toy.

This morning I took my wife to work. I didn’t need to use the GPS because I knew the route well. There is still some new to wear off of the little wonder so I hooked it up and turned it on. It was still programmed from the previous day to navigate to my home. As we left our drive and headed toward her workplace the lady’s voice on the GPS began to try to get me to go to the destination that was programmed in the GPS – my home! We had just gone one block when the GPS lady told me to turn right. She wanted to take me around the block and back to my house. This continued throughout the whole trip to my wife’s workplace. I was amused at the insistent effort of the electronic lady as she tried persistently to get me to go back home.

Later as I drove on toward my workplace I mused over the situation. This seemed to be so much like the voice of God that speaks to us when we stray away from His will. He talks to us step by step along the way trying to persuade us to make a U turn and come back to Him. No matter how far we stray, He is there by our side. His voice is clear. The message is consistent. The confidence is sure . . . we can get back home if we will just turn from our own way and return to Him.

Dr. Gayle Woods

Romans 1:21

We’re not very good at saying “Thank You,” are we?

We’re like the little boy….. On his return from a birthday party his mother queried, “Bobby, did you thank the lady for the party?”

“Well, I was going to,” he answered, “But a girl ahead of me said, ‘Thank You,’ and the lady told her not to mention it. So I didn’t.”

It is interesting to note that it wasn’t until we were at war, the Civil War to be exact, that our Thanksgiving holiday was officially recognized by Congress.

It had started in the small Plymouth Colony in 1621 when the English Pilgrims feasted with members of the Wampanoag Indians who brought gifts of food as a gesture of goodwill. The custom grew in various colonies as a means of celebrating the harvest.

In 1777, over 100 years later, the continental congress proclaimed a national day of Thanksgiving after the American Revolution victory at the Battle of Saratoga.

But it was twelve years later that George Washington proclaimed another national day of thanksgiving in honor of the ratification of the Constitution and requested that the congress finally make it an annual event.

They declined! It would be another 100 years and the end of a bloody civil war before President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November -Thanksgiving. The year was 1865.

It might surprise you to learn that it took still another 40 years, the early 1900’s, before the tradition really caught on. For you see, Lincoln’s official Thanksgiving was sanctioned in order to bolster the Union’s morale.

Many Southerners saw the new holiday as an attempt to impose Northern customs on their conquered land. You might say that Thankfulness was “politically incorrect!”

It is sad when we consider that thanking God for His bountiful provision might be politically incorrect, inconvenient, or unnecessary. This was the sin of the people Paul discusses in Romans 1 where he said, 21 “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.” (KJV)

I am grateful that Thanksgiving has become a national holiday that is celebrated by most. And yet even though we may be pleased at this advancement we must be careful to assure that the emphasis is on Thanksgiving and not on holiday. Our celebration and feasting could easily become an exercise in gluttony rather than gratitude.

Dr. Gayle Woods