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years. The purchasing power of the
average American dollar is getting
Jess and Jess each year. In this re–
gard, today's dollar is worth only 50
cents compared to the dollar of 1969.
And now the government of the
United States has announced a reces–
sion. Things are slowing down. Sorne
financia) prognosticators are con–
cerned about a possible full-scale de–
pression if something is not done to
shore up the sagging dollar .
And something has to be done
about inftation and the squandering
of natural resources and fossil fuels.
But who will do it? Who will make
the first move? Is it all up to the
President and his cabinet? Can we
blame the present government for the
erosion of national blessings?
"America the bountiful" could be–
come "America the bankrupt" if we
do not soon learn to use more wisely
the incredible national blessings we
have been granted.
The Meaning of Thanksgiving
That brings us to the meaning of
Thanksgiving. While this national
festival is not of biblical origin, it
does tie in with clear bíblica) princi–
pies. In taking stock of the national
blessings of Canada and the United
States, it is important to keep two
principies in mind: 1) the importance
of gratitude, and 2) the bíblica) prin–
cipie of stewardship.
The United States has been called
"one nation under God" and its coi–
nage reads "in God we trust." Cana–
dians sing "God save the Queen."
God, it seems, is an official part of
American and Canadian patriotism.
But is God in the thoughts and
hearts
of the people? Is God really seen
as the one in whom "we live, and
move, and have our being"? (Acts
17:28.)
We are instructed in the Psalms:
"Let us come into his presence
with
thanksgiving;
Jet us make a joyful
noise to him with songs of praise"
(Psalms 95:2).
In Psalm l 00 we read: "Enter his
gates with
thanksgiving,
and his
courts with praise! Give thanks to
him, bless his name!" (Verse 4.)
It is
to God,
not to conventional
economic wisdom, that we should
give thanks for the bounteous nation–
al blessings bestowed upon these
great countries. lt is God who blesses
18
with material prosperity. "The silver
is mine, and the gold is mine, says the
Lord of hosts" (Haggai 2:8).
The Principie of Stewardship
All that is belongs to God. What we
have, we have been allowed to
use–
ideally to His glory and honor. For
what we have been given, and it is
much, we should be grateful. But the
fact that we have been given so much
implies great
responsibility
toward
God.
It
should involve a sense of
stewardship
toward what we have
been given.
A "steward," according to the dic–
tionary, is "a person who manages
another's property or financia) af–
fairs, or who administers anything as
the agent of another or others"
(The
Random House Dictionary of the
English Language).
God has given us, in America and
Canada, an inordinately large share
of the earth's bounty-of
His
wealth.
As the recipients of these vast nation–
al blessings, we have a duty of stew–
ardship toward God. We have a duty
first to be grateful for what we have
received in trust; and secondly, we
have a duty to use that wealth to
glorify God.
To greedily squander the national
blessings bestowed upon us by God is
to treat lightly those magnificent na–
tional blessings, and it is to insult our
Creator! The time of squandering
and abuse should have long been
over. There is a thin line between
prosperity and poverty. The differ–
ence is responsible usage. As eco–
nomic and energy problems mount,
we should be sobered by the reality
that we may soon become one of
the "have-not" nations of the
world.
A national lesson can be derived
from Jesus' own teaching on respon–
sible stewardship. Speaking of His
ow.n ministers who have been set over
the household of God (the Church),
Jesus said: "Who then is the faithful
and wise steward, whom his master
will set over his household, to give
them their portion of food at the
proper time? Blessed is that servant
whom his master when he comes will
find so doing.... But if that servant
says to himself, 'My master is de–
layed in coming,' and begins to beat
the menservants and the maidser–
vants, and to eat and drink and get
drunk, the master of that servant will
come on a day when he does not
expect him and at an hour he does
not know, and will punish him, and
put him with the unfaithful" (Luke
12:42-46).
It
is the responsibility of those in
power over the nation and its re–
sources to see tl:lat those blessings are
doled out in "their portion" and at
the "proper time." It is the duty of all
of us as consumers to exercise re–
sponsibility in the usage of these na–
tional blessings and resources. It is a
time to conserve and to use wisely–
not a time to squander recklessly
those magnificent bounties bestowed
upon us by our Creator.
lf
we contin–
ue to be irresponsible in the usage of
our national blessings, as we have
been, then we will undoubtedly lose
them. As the apostle Paul told the
Corinthians: "Moreover it is required
of stewards that they be found trust–
worthy"
(1
Corinthians 4:2).
Have presidents, congressmen,
and citizens alike been proveo trust–
worthy in the use of national bless–
ings? Have we used those blessings
wisely and judiciously? l f we had
done so, would we be in the present
economic pickle? Would we have an
energy crisis? Probably not.
Taklng Stock
As Thanksgiving Day approaches in
both Canada and the United States,
perhaps it is high time to take stock
and consider just how responsible we
have been, as peoples, over the
wealth God has bestowed upon our
nations. It is time to consider the
sheer magnificence of our national
blessings, and the possibility of losing
them.
If
our peoples would turn to God in
faith and in gratitude, perhaps we
could be bailed out of the current
difficulties. While our problem.s are
serious, they don't have to be termi–
nal. God could save us from the con–
sequences of past greed and irrespon–
sibility. He could forgive us and pros:
per us once again. But it will only
happen if we turn to Him, begin to
use our blessings rightly, and follow
the admonition of the apostle Paul:
"Have no anxiety about anything,
but in everything by prayer and sup–
plication
with thanksgiving
let your
request be made known to God"
(Philippians 4:6). o
The
PLAIN TRUTH October/November 1979