As we Americans gather around our Thanksgiving tables this year, we must make sure that our children understand it is the God of the Bible we are thanking.  Some school children today are being told that on that first Thanksgiving, the Pilgrims held a feast to thank the Indians for helping them survive in the wilderness.

It is especially important in these dangerous times that Americans continue to thank God for His bounty and His blessing on our nation.

God is not obligated to bless us.  That is not what Scripture teaches.  God's blessing and His calling on any particular nation should not lead to feelings of self-righteousness or pride.  Instead, Scripture tells us that God's special calling and blessing on any individual or nation must lead to humility, not pride.  It must lead to the recognition of our duty to God, our need for repentance of sin-and primarily at this season of the year, to a response of thankfulness.

The Pilgrims who celebrated that first Thanksgiving with their Indian neighbors believed that God's hand was on them as they fought the Massachusetts wilderness for survival.  They saw many parallels between themselves and the Children of Israel.  The Pilgrims believed they had been chosen by God for their "errand into the wilderness," as they frequently referred to their journey across the Atlantic.  They believed they were on a missionary venture to bring the light of Jesus Christ to the darkness of the New World, and to build a Bible-based, self-governing community that would bring liberty and justice for all.  They saw their deliverance from Europe as parallel to the Israelites escaping from bondage in Egypt; and their landing on Cape Cod as the equivalent of Israel's entrance into Canaan.  But these parallels did not bring pride to the Pilgrim heart.  Instead, they brought a recognition that, just like Israel, if they did not continue to follow God in their community and in their individual lives, they would certainly endure His wrath and His judgment.

Nothing has changed.  America today is not superior because God has so uniquely blessed us.  Instead, we are driven to our knees in thanksgiving for His great grace and mercy.  Because we believe that God established this nation, we Christians are made even more aware of our individual and national sin and of our abdication of God's Lordship over our both our personal lives and our nation.  

Those secularists and even some Christians who think that recognizing America as a Divine experiment uniquely blessed by God somehow makes us superior to other nations are mistaken.  God loves all nations.  Being the subject of God's special blessing does not make America superior or more loved by God; instead, it makes Americans more responsible to continue acknowledging His sovereignty over us, more responsible to continue keeping His laws.

Scripture is clear that God did not choose Israel because of any special characteristics that nation possessed.  Nor did God choose America for that reason.  Instead, our Founders believed that God chose America for a special calling-to be a "city on a hill," showing the world how following the principles of God's Word can bring liberty and justice to all.  Because America was called by God, we can expect that God will also bring a special judgment on America if we fail to acknowledge and follow Him. 

Those secularists among us who believe that America has been so blessed merely because of human endeavors are wrong.  No nation could have achieved America's greatness without applying God's Biblical principles and, thereby, enjoying His great mercy and favor.  Americans need to continue to see the parallels between our history and Israel's.  God imposed great judgment on Israel when Israel turned away from God.

Recognizing the truth about America's special Christian heritage, as the Pilgrims did on that First Thanksgiving, is the only thing that will keep America tied to its Biblical anchor.  Abandoning our nation's Christian heritage and values and buying into today's secular worldview will lead to America's destruction.  Our only hope is for our nation to continue to stand squarely on our Biblical roots.  We call on modern Americans, and especially Christians, to reclaim our nation's Biblical foundations.  

America's secularists are also wrong when they argue that those who want to rebuild America on her Biblical roots want to establish a Christian theocracy in this nation.  Nothing could be farther from the truth.  The Biblical principles on which our Founders built this nation are clear that every human being is a fallen creature, bent only upon sinning.  They recognized that the Bible teaches a reliance on divided government, checks and balances, and a repudiation of monarchy or theocracy. 

Returning to a reliance on God is not the same thing as believing that Christians have all the answers or that we are fit to govern this nation as a theocracy.  In Matthew 5:13-16, Jesus calls us to be salt and light, not theocrats.  Christians need to become more involved in politics and in developing public policies that acknowledge God's sovereignty over our nation, while at the same time realizing that the God of the Bible does not demand obedience.  He offers salvation.  Returning to our roots as a Christian nation continues to offer the only hope for freedom and justice for everyone-not only for Christians.  America's secularists do not realize that it is only because America was founded on Biblical principles that everyone can be free to either accept or reject God without penalty in this nation.  It is only the God of the Bible Who offers humanity freedom.  He is the God our Pilgrim Fathers worshipped and thanked on that first Thanksgiving.

So let's take this day to thank God for His mercy and grace and to teach our children the Biblical source of America's blessings.  Then let's roll up our sleeves and make sure that our nation will continue to be the object of God's blessing and not of His future judgment.

Happy Thanksgiving from your legal missionaries at the Christian Law Association!
 

A special Thanksgiving video greeting from the founder and president of CLA, Dr. David Gibbs, Jr.