“There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female, since you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:28 CSB
I’m thankful for the Indians in the Thanksgiving story, if you recall from yesterday, they are the ones who helped the Pilgrims learn how to farm. The Indians are who gave the weary travellers a way to survive, to be able to grow food and feed their dwindling families. If the Indians hadn’t intervened, it is highly likely the small band of Pilgrims left would not have survived another winter. Their skin was a different color, but their hearts were all filled with love and acceptance. We can learn so much by the interactions of this new found friendship. We can learn so much from a man named Squanto.
Squanto was a member of the Patuxet tribe. In 1614 he was captured by an English explorer, Thomas Hunt who sold him into slavery in Spain. Squanto escaped and eventually made his way back to North America. A year later he would become the guide and interpreter that would selflessly move into camp with more English people and teach them how to survive. A brief recap, one English man takes him thousands of miles from his home, enslaves him, and the first thing he does when he returns to American soil is help English people. I’m not sure, after what he had endured in his time of captivity I would have been so willing to help. But that is what God does for us. He helps us, even though we’ve treated Him badly.
We all treat God badly, there is not one of us that can say we don’t. We turn our backs on Him, we ignore Him when it doesn’t suit our purposes. We put Him in a box until we need Him, then we expect Him to jump at our first command. But that is not who God is, He’s not a genie in a bottle waiting for it to be rubbed. God is a God of love. God understands the struggles we have and wants to join us in them. Recently, I was in a hate filled situation. I could feel it coming from the people I was surrounded by, it is not a good feeling. The thought I had run through my mind, what beats hate? The answer is love. Darkness is the absence of light, hate is the absence of love. A.W. Tozer famously said, “What you think about God is the most important thing about us.” When I think of God, I think of love. When I think of His Word, I think of it as His love letter to me, showing me how to love. Hate is the absence of God, God doesn’t hate, He creates. He creates new life, He gives new hope, He loves always. Just as Squanto did when he moved in with the very people who had tortured him and showed them how to live.
I’m thankful for Indians. What are you thankful for?
