Perhaps we have difficulty grasping what Thanksgiving is all about, since we live in a nation which is prosperous, and for the most part we have plenty. After landing in 1620, the Pilgrim colonists lost nearly half of their original 102 members to illness during that first winter. Reduced to rations of 5 kernels of corn per meal it is easy to understand when things turned around and they had a bountiful harvest after the summer of 1621, that they celebrated that first Thanksgiving. Billy Graham said, "Whenever we sit down for a meal, let us not forget that at least half the world goes to bed hungry. When we enjoy the comfort of our home, let us not forget that millions have no home to go to. As we ride in our car, let us not forget that many people in the world cannot afford even a bicycle. Whenever we go to church to thank God for our material and spiritual blessings, let us remember that millions have never heard the gospel, the good news of salvation in Christ." Perhaps in this prosperous nation we might miss many aspects of giving thanks, but may we not miss the total poverty many of our loved ones who will join us for dinner this year have concerning their relationship with Jesus Christ.

We read in 1 Timothy 5:7-8, "And these things command, that they may be blameless. But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever." Though this portion of Scripture specifically addresses the treatment of widows and often is applied to meeting their material needs, this can be applied to all of our loved ones and also apply to their spiritual needs. Many of our loved ones are not in real financial need, but so many are in spiritual need. This is not something which we are to delegate or farm out to someone else. If we have elderly loved ones who don’t know Jesus as Lord and Savior, it is beautiful to bring them to church and hope that the pastor delivers a message that will impact them. But this responsibility of delivering the gospel message cannot simply be delegated to the pastor. We, who are in Christ are more than able to deliver the gospel message to them if we are willing. Concerning our children, it is great to get them into the church, get them involved in youth groups, etc. But this does not remove the responsibility we have in delivering the gospel message continuously to our children. We cannot delegate this task to the church and the youth pastors.

One thing that we all have is time. The question is what do we choose to do with that time and what topics do we choose to engage in conversation? We read in 1 Timothy 6:20-21, "O Timothy! Guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding the profane and idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge - by professing it some have strayed concerning the faith. Grace be with you. Amen." Every day, we make a conscious decision as to what we will fill our time with and what we will choose to talk about. We can fill our time rambling about what is wrong with society or politics, or we can set our eyes on at least one person and direct our conversation on the hope that we have in Jesus Christ. It's not that we can't, but often we choose not to. If everyone at the table knows Jesus as Lord and Savior, great! Then encourage one another as brothers and sisters rather than allowing the conversation to go off into some meaningless direction. May we not neglect the most precious gift that has been bestowed upon us: eternal life in Jesus Christ, and may we share this with anyone and everyone.