Each year, we take time from our busy lives to celebrate a day of Thanksgiving.

Though many holidays have become secular celebrations, this holiday still retains much

of its historic religious overtones.

A day of Thanksgiving was set aside by the Pilgrims who founded Plymouth

Colony. Life was hard in the New World. Half of the Pilgrims died in the first terrible

winter. After the first harvest was completed, Governor William Bradford proclaimed a

day of Thanksgiving and prayer. By 1623, a day of fasting and prayer during a period of

drought was changed to one of Thanksgiving because the rain came during their prayers.

The custom prevailed in New England and eventually became a national holiday.

Religious freedom is one of the lessons of Thanksgiving. In 1606 William

Brewster led a group of Separatists to Leiden (in the Netherlands) to escape religious

persecution in England. After living in Leiden for more than ten years, some members of

the group voted to emigrate to America. Having been blown off course from their

intended landing in Virginia by a terrible storm, the Pilgrims landed at Cape Cod on

November 1620. While still on the ship, the Pilgrims signed the Mayflower Compact.

The Mayflower Compact provides the second lesson of Thanksgiving: the

importance of political freedom. On November 11, 1620, Governor William Bradford

and the leaders on the Mayflower signed the Mayflower Compact before setting foot on

land. They wanted to acknowledge God’s sovereignty in their lives and their need to

obey Him.

During this Thanksgiving season, let’s return to the wisdom of the Pilgrims. They

valued their religious freedom and were willing to endure hardship in order to come to

this country and freely worship. They also valued their political freedom and drafted the

Mayflower Compact in recognition of God’s sovereign hand in their lives. Let us thank

God for these freedoms and be willing to defend them against all who would seek to take

them away.