Pioneer Christian Monthly - September, 1983

Thanksgiving - From A Farmer's Point of View
Jerry Koobs

I know that Thanksgiving is in October, and it is traditional that after the harvest is gathered in we celebrate Thanksgiving. But I cannot help but think back to last spring when, after a long, cold winter, everything seemed to be dead. Then all of a sudden fields and gardens were ready to receive the seed. This has happened without fail since God's promise to Noah in Genesis 8:22. "While the earth remains, seed time and harvest, cold and heat summer and winter, day and night shall not cease." (RSV) What a dependable God we have. He is Almighty God, Creator and Sustainer of all life. It makes me want to go down on my knees and marvel in thanksgiving that this same God wants to be my heavenly Father and my personal Saviour through His Son, Jesus Christ. Praise and thank you, Lord, for that!

In growing crops and raising and managing livestock we have an almost unlimited supply of technological aids available. With the help of a computer we can figure out exactly what animals and plants need. We have everything pretty well in control. Perhaps it takes a long dry or wet spell (or both), such as we have had this summer in our area, to make us aware of our dependency on our God and Creator.

It is not always the abundance of material goods that makes us thankful people. For instance, my mother-in-law, who has recently lost her husband, is still very thankful to the Lord for the 57 years they had together. Oh yes, she is still lonely. The fact that so many Canadians are without work perhaps makes us thankful for our jobs. October is a time for praise and thanksgiving, but we must also confess that through man's greed and mismanagement of God's blessings, many people in the world are without work and food. As farmers, we sometimes have to limit or cut back our food production while many millions of people in the world go hungry. Lord, we have mismanaged the economies of Your world!

Those of us who are blessed with an abundance of everything, let us "thank God" and share with those in need - there is plenty of opportunity all around us, as well as abroad.

Thank you, Lord, for our daily bread.

Thank you, God, for Jesus Christ, our Bread of Life.

Help me, Lord, to share Him with someone today. Amen.

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