WHO WERE THE PILGRIMS?

Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; make melody to our God . . . (Psalms 147:7).

And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, "Take this, and divide it among yourselves; for I tell you that from now on I shall not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes."  And he took bread, and when he had given thenks he broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body" (Luke 22:17-20).

And all the angels stood around the throne and round the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God for ever and ever! Amen" (Revelation 7:11-12).

Who were the Pilgrims?  During this Thanksgiving holiday, one would do well to "google" "Who were the Pilgrims?" and find out--it is my research for what follows.

 They were called protestants, puritans, seperatists, and interestingly enough, Calvinists, but William Bradford, signer of the Mayflower Compact and second governor of the Plymouth Colony, called them "The Lord's free people."  Bradford went on to say that they joined themselves in the "fellowship of the gospel, to walk in all His ways made known, or to be made known to them." Bradford also said that " They knew they were pilgrims, and looked not so much on those things, but lifted their eyes to the heavens, their dearest country."

The Pilgrims left England and settled in Holland because there they found religious freedom, but they also found a worldliness that was infecting their children.  So it was decided that they would sell their possessions to finance a voyage to the new world where they could religious freedom and raise their families within the culture of faith.  Even with the sale of their possessions, the Pilgrims could not finance the voyage to the New World, so they found investors to help finance their venture.  The investors insisted on a communal arrangement where each family drew equally from a common store.  The Pilgrims resisted, insisting on the Biblical principal, "As ye sow, so shall ye reap."  It was not until the third year after their arrival, after two years of failure of the communal arrangement, that the Pilgrims reaped a bountiful harvest.  Each family was assigned a plot of their own and each family prospered.  It also must be noted that were it not for the Divine provision of the Native Americans, the Pilgrims might not have made it to the third year.

No matter how much privation, hardship and death that the Pilgrims suffered, they believed that it was the hand of Divine Providence that brought them to America and they were thankful for freedom!  Freedom that was dearly paid for by our forefathers should not be easily squandered by their sons.  We who have enjoyed the blessings of liberty are squandering it in ingratitude.

The Pilgrims understood that this world was not their home, that they were just passing through to a better country where the builder and maker is God.  Thank God, our best days are yet ahead!

Grace&Peace,
Tom