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For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land with flowing streams, with springs and underground waters welling up in valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, a land where you may eat bread without scarcity, where you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron and from whose hills you may mine copper. You shall eat your fill and bless the Lord your God for the good land that he has given you. Take care that you do not forget the Lord your God, by failing to keep his commandments, his ordinances, and his statutes, which I am commanding you today. When you have eaten your fill and have built fine houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks have multiplied, and your silver and gold is multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied,then do not exalt yourself, forgetting the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, who led you through the great and terrible wilderness, an arid waste-land with poisonous snakes and scorpions. He made water flow for you from flint rock, and fed you in the wilderness with manna that your ancestors did not know, to humble you and to test you, and in the end to do you good. Do not say to yourself, ‘My power and the might of my own hand have gained me this wealth.’ But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, so that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your ancestors, as he is doing today. (Deuteronomy 8:7-18)
This nation is gearing up to have a big holiday on Thursday. It is a day to give thanks. And it is to God to Whom we give those thanks. It becomes easy to get caught up on the food; some even jokingly call Thursday, "Turkey day," because that is what is on most menus, and I would be the first to confess that if a big dead bird isn't on the platter on our table, I may feel a little cheated. I've shared how in 1963, the death of President Kennedy triggered, I believe, the death of my great-aunt, Paulina Martinez. She was my grandma sister, but we loved and adored her. She lived in McAllen, and once a year would make a trip to visit my grandma and us, and we knew her as the Frito lady, who would sit right behind the bus driver and eat a huge bag of Fritos, which she secretly brought for us kids to finish. She was buried almost immediately in McAllen and by Thanksgiving Day we were back on the road to Kingsville. At about noon time, we pulled over to the road side park one gets to after the Border Checkpoint and there my mom pulled out a loaf of white bread, bologna, cheese, mayonnaise, chips and soft drinks, and announced that was our Thanksgiving meal. What?! I asked, as most ten year olds would, "This can't be our Thanksgiving meal, there's no turkey!" She laughed and said we would have it the next day, and that calmed me down.
I had not yet read nor understood the above passage, the recommended Old Testament passage for Thanksgiving Day. It is a call to remembrance of all the good God has done in our lives and the way we are to be thankful for that. I love the verse that says, "Take care that you do not forget the Lord your God, by failing to keep His commandments, his ordinances, and His statutes, which I am commanding you today. When you have eaten your fill (and who among us is not set to do just that in a couple of days?)...then do not exalt yourself, forgetting the Lord your God..." who has provided all that we have. Our remembrance extends to the days yet to come, for the Lord our God has been, is, and will be, good.
PRAYER: Loving God, as I meditate on this passage, I am thankful for all You have provided. Forgive me of those times I have focused more on things than on You. May we prepare to celebrate our meal with grateful hearts and joyous spirits. This we pray in Christ Jesus' strong name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Share your attitude of gratitude with others!
Eradio Valverde
