Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day. I have made two pumpkin pies and an apple pie is in the oven as I write. For some it would not be Thanksgiving without Turkey, others are serious about those mashed potatoes and gravy. My husband is all about the pumpkin pie and I’m an herbs-and-giblets stuffing girl myself. Beyond the food, there are traditions we keep such as the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, football, movies, games, and most importantly it and all holidays center around family.
Enter the year 2020 and all of the changes that have come with it. We live in a lockdown state just north of the lock-down state our families live in. Crossing borders is an issue, gatherings of more than six, or more than two households is against governor mandates. We have the option to break the “rules” and gather or follow the rules and try to figure out how to make Thanksgiving dinner for two. At least that is how it will be at my house this year. (I just made three pies.)
As 2020 has taken many of our freedoms away including our freedom to assemble and worship, as our lives have slowed to a crawl, my relationship with the Lord has increased exponentially. With all of the distractions removed along with many commitments, I have had time to reinvest in the Lord. My poignant thought is, maybe one thing God is gifting us with through this pandemic is time for intimacy with Him.
I consider how Jesus rebuked the scribes and Pharisees when they complained His disciples were transgressing traditions. He pointed out their hypocrisy and quoted Isaiah to them, “Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men’” (Matthew 15:7-9).
Our holiday gatherings are looking different this year. Some if not all of our traditions are set aside and we are – dare I say – invited to restore our focus on the only One who truly matters. Instead of honoring Him with our lips, we are given a glorious moment in history to restore heartfelt worship instead of subjugating Him to a moment of thanks between carving the turkey and slicing the pie. We are in this year 2020 invited to remember these Christian holidays are not about family, gifts, food, and activities together, though those are great blessings; but they are, at their core, about the One who Was and Is and Is to Come, our Savior and King (Revelation 1:8)
I invite you as we give thanks tomorrow and move into the Christmas Season to spend less time sorrowing over the things we are missing and instead seek deeper intimacy with God. Look to Him to take you deeper and raise you higher in your walk with Him. See these moments of isolation as gifts if you can. Seek Him. Worship Him. Exalt Him in everything you do and say. Let the traditions that would normally push Him to the side slip away so He can become your center – your everything. Then all these other things will be added to you. These things will be key as we enter this new era for the Church.
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,
and all these things shall be added to you.
(Matthew 6:33)
May you and yours have a Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving