“You crown the year with your bounty and your carts overflow with abundance” (Psalm 65:11).
The previous owners of our home in Cambridge had the foresight to plant an apple tree in the backyard. Last year, the tree produced a total of two apples. This year it gave us hundreds of beautiful, tart apples (we think they’re Macintosh apples).
What to do with such bounty? After thanking God for causing our apple carts to “overflow with abundance,” we picked, peeled and put up apples.
Now our pantry is filled with a bounty of applesauce in mason jars. Our freezer brims with bags of sliced apples ready to become the sweet filling of apple pies.
Harvest season is meant to be a time of Thanksgiving. We give thanks to God for the bounty of blessings He has given us. We echo the words of the Psalm 103:
Praise the Lord O my soul
and forget not all his benefits.
Who forgives all your sins,
and heals all your diseases.
Who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion.
Who satisfies your desires with good things
so your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
This Thanksgiving season we want to voice our thanks to God for the bounty of His blessings. I enjoyed writing down some of the specifics in my journal this evening: the upcoming weddings for our sons, the privilege of training men and women for ministry at Heritage, physical and spiritual strength, and a sense of fruitfulness in God’s service. It’s good for our souls to remember the goodness of the Lord.
Whether this year’s blessings have seemed lean (only two apples) or lavish (a bumper crop), God is worthy of our heartfelt thanksgiving.
“Give thanks to the Lord for He is good; His love endures forever” (Psalm 106:1)
Rick and Linda Reed 