Today we set a special table. A table in which friends and family will sit together. There will be laughter, lots of food and conversations that will both challenge us and encourage us. The table is a special place for people, it holds both good and bad memories. The table this year may have an empty seat because a loved one has passed, it may be set in someone else’s home and not your own, it may even lack important people who once used to sit at the table with you but for one reason or another are not there this year. Who would have ever thought the Thanksgiving table could carry such power to hurt and to heal in our lives.

People have spent hours to prepare this table for us today as an act of love for those who will sit at it today. Gratitude is an everyday thing, but today giving thanks is extra special because nationwide people will be sitting around tables together. No matter how large or small your table it is a day to give thanks, for thanks has the power to seed our futures. Who knows if next year our table will have people at it we wished were here this year. We serve a God who restores all things, and I too have people not at my table this year, but I also do have people at my table I would have never expected. God has a way of giving us many reasons to give thanks.

As we gather at our tables today, may we remember the table Jesus gathered at with His disciples every Passover. People prepared that meal in advance, and the heart of that table was to give thanks. They were invited to give thanks for the body that was broken and the blood that was shed, it was a table of rememberance of the exodus out of Egypt by God Himself. They had bread and wine, we have turkey and stuffing, but it is the same table of thanks and rememberance. Enjoy your table time today, whether its a table for one or for many, for the table is a time to say thank you and remember He is the God who restores all things! Happy Thanksgiving friends.