Sacrifice That Honors God
How can you honor God today?
Verse of the Day
‘But giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors me. If you keep to my path, I will reveal to you the salvation of God.”’
Today’s Devotional
Happy Thanksgiving!
Today I bring you a story of a Native American Indian named Squanto. His name was actually Tisquantum, but Squanto seems to be his nickname. Squanto was born sometime around 1580 in current-day Massachusetts and was a member of the Pawtuxet tribe. Two times in his life, he was captured and taken to Europe. The first capture happened so that some Europeans could see what the “natives” looked like. He ended up with an Englishman who taught Squanto the English language, and eventually he ended up back in his home land. The second capture was to sell him and others into slavery in Spain. He escaped from his slavers and lived with some monks for a few years, who continued to teach him the English language. Eventually, he made his way back to North America in 1619, only to find out that his entire tribe had died from smallpox. He was the only Pawtuxet left. He then went to live with a nearby tribe, the Wampanoags.
Sometime in early 1621, Squanto was introduced to the Pilgrims from the Mayflower. These people, from the land of those who had kidnapped him twice, were weak with malnutrition and disease from living aboard the Mayflower during their first winter in North America.
What would you do in this situation? Would you help them?
Squanto did. Here is an excerpt from History.com: “Squanto taught the Pilgrims, weakened by malnutrition and illness, how to cultivate corn, extract sap from maple trees, catch fish in the rivers and avoid poisonous plants. He also helped the settlers forge an alliance with the Wampanoag, a local tribe, which would endure for more than 50 years and tragically remains one of the sole examples of harmony between European colonists and Native Americans.”
Squanto’s kidnappings gave him the ability to speak English. His ability to speak to both the Pilgrims and the Indians paved the way for the first settlers to survive. Without him, only God knows what might have happened.
Given the many tragedies of his life, Squanto had every right to seek vengeance on the people from the Mayflower. But that was not the choice he made. He chose peace. He chose to help and be of service to others who were different from him. He chose forgiveness.
Today, on a holiday that started because of a celebration for the harvest of 1621 – all because of an Indian named Squanto – I wonder if I am truly offering God the sacrifice of gratitude of a truly surrendered heart. The kind of heart that forgives. The kind of heart that helps others to better themselves, even when I have every reason not to. The kind of heart that does not allow the tragedies of life to make me bitter.
Today, may we offer an unending sacrifice of thanks and praise to the God who made this day possible.
Journal Prompt
If giving thanks is a sacrifice that honors God, then what are you grateful for today?
Comments
Awesome story. Thanks for that.