"Who's the Turkey"

Ah... Thanksgiving! Yes the time that the fairer sex prepares (in most cases) a lavish spread of holiday delights such as delicious bread stuffing, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, and candied yams. But one must not forget the gorgeous bird that the lady of the house (in most cases, you Martha Stewart men) slavishly prepared the night before. And of course she loves to tell everyone how she has sacrificed herself and is a walking zombie so that everyone could enjoy the abundant feast that she has prepared. Then there is the man of the house. As soon as he wakes up on this day of thanks he plops his lazy behind on the sofa and watches the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade until the most important part of the day comes. Oh yes ladies! You know all too well to what I am referring. FOOTBALL!!!!! Of course you can only pry him away from the TV long enough to say a quick blessing, and I quote, "Good food. Good meat. Good God let's eat." The lady of the house rolls her eyes and proceeds to finishing her hosting duties. The man piles it on his plate of food, one that would rival the Tower of Babel, and goes back to his permanent resting place, the couch. After the ladies gracefully graze on whatever the men have left, they proceed to have a little fun of their own, gossip! This continues through the afternoon until the man falls asleep halfway through the third quarter of the third football game of the day. Everyone then slowly stands up and begins to say their bloated and tired goodbyes. The lady of the house finishes her cleaning, while the man lies on the couch until he decides he will drag his lazy body to his bed.

Whoooo! What a day! I never knew it could be so tiresome lying around watching football. Well…Ouch!…Sorry that was my wife and mother poking me in the arm. Well I guess they have more of a reason to be tired on Turkey Day. The point I am trying to make is this – This entire day was spent without participating in what this day was originally intended for, giving thanks to God.

I can just imagine how those pilgrims, with their funny hats crossing their arms in disgust, would think about how we celebrate this national holiday. I can hear them now "Thou hast frivolously wasted the abundant bounty that our Lord hath bestowed on this land. Thou art an ungrateful people and art unworthy of His continued blessing. Hark! The turkey is more worthy of the fruits of this land than thou!" Oh Snap! Oh no he didant! Even though you might be fuming that Bo Pilgrim's ancestor called you out, I think he has a point. Who's the turkey now?

We are of course commanded by God to offer him thanksgiving. In Psalm 95:1-6 he says, O Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. For the LORD is a great God, And a great King above all gods, In whose hand are the depths of the earth; The peaks of the mountains are His also. The sea is His, for it was He who made it; And His hands formed the dry land. Come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker. We say that we are grateful for the many blessings we have received, yet our indifference speaks otherwise. In fact thanklessness is an attribute of the lost. Romans 1:21 says, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Even though the lost have a "general" acknowledgment of God, they still are not grateful to him for the many abundant blessings that he provides them. Acknowledging God (i.e. the lazy Thanksgiving prayer) is not the same or should be confused as thankfulness to God.

I am not saying that if you have spent your Thanksgivings in similar fashion like the scenario above (I know I have!) that you are a lost sinner bound for hell. On the other hand, on the day set aside to give God thanks for his abundant blessings, maybe we can set time aside to reflect on what our great God has done for us. Let's feast on the turkey, rather than become card-carrying birdbrains.

- Jordan McGehee