Spurgeon's Morning and Evening Devotions Evening, August 29 "All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the vine tree, from the kernels even to the husk." Numbers 6:4 Nazarites had taken, among other vows, one which debarred them from the use of wine. In order that they might not violate the obligation, they were forbidden to drink the vinegar of wine or strong liquors, and to make the rule still more clear, they were not to touch the unfermented juice of grapes, nor even to eat the fruit either fresh or dried. In order, altogether, to secure the integrity of the vow, they were not even allowed anything that had to do with the vine; they were, in fact, to avoid the appearance of evil. Surely this is a lesson to the Lord's separated ones, teaching them to come away from sin in every form, to avoid not merely its grosser shapes, but even its spirit and similitude. Strict walking is much despised in these days, but rest assured, dear reader, it is both the safest and the happiest. He who yields a point or two to the world is in fearful peril; he who eats the grapes of Sodom will soon drink the wine of Gomorrah. A little crevice in the sea-bank in Holland lets in the sea, and the gap speedily swells till a province is drowned. Worldly conformity, in any degree, is a snare to the soul, and makes it more and more liable to presumptuous sins. Moreover, as the Nazarite who drank grape juice could not be quite sure whether it might not have endured a degree of fermentation, and consequently could not be clear in heart that his vow was intact, so the yielding, temporizing Christian cannot wear a conscience void of offence, but must feel that the inward monitor is in doubt of him. Things doubtful we need not doubt about; they are wrong to us. Things tempting we must not dally with, but flee from them with speed. Better be sneered at as a Puritan than be despised as a hypocrite. Careful walking may involve much self-denial, but it has pleasures of its own which are more than a sufficient recompense.

A Puritan Prayer for the LORD’s Day Adapted from The Valley of Vision O Lord, May I approach Thee with a holy boldness, having access by the blood of Jesus. Let me not be unmindful of the trials and temptations of this week, but let me be eager for the rest and worship You have ordained. Help me to prepare my heart to hear Your Word, to confess sin with honesty, to praise You with reverence, and to commune with You by faith. May the sabbath never be a burden, but always a delight, the best of days, my heaven on earth. Give me grace that my soul may rise above the weariness of this world, to seek the eternal rest that remains for the people of God. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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The First Thanksgiving As a Southerner, I am aware that it was not the yankees, but my Southern forebears who first celebrated a Thanksgiving in America. Christopher M. Sullivan, Former Commander-in-Chief, Sons of Confederate Veterans reminds us: Modern pundits often credit U.S. President Abraham Lincoln with proclaiming the first Thanksgiving Day. Or, even more prominently, we see the first Thanksgiving Day associated with the Pilgrims who settled at Plymouth Rock, in what is now Massachusetts. Like so much of what we hear about American history this is simply wrong. The first Thanksgiving in this country was, in fact, celebrated at Jamestown, Virginia in December 1607. The Berkley Plantation’s charter required that the day of the colonist’s safe arrival, “…shall be yearly and perpetually kept holy as a day of thanksgiving….” The sour-faced Pilgrims were still thirteen years into the future. Of course, the politically correct love to point to the happy scene of the Pilgrims in their black garb, white collars and stiff hats, sitting at a grand banquet with the ruddy savages, all in all a scene of peace and ethnic tranquility. This joint celebration took place because the Pilgrims’ socialistic economic practices (i.e., a common storehouse) had driven them to the brink of starvation, before the Indians took pity and rescued them. If those Indians had only known . . . But, despite all the credit incorrectly given to the Pilgrims of New England, it is President Lincoln who is oft credited with the first Thanksgiving proclamation because it began an unbroken string of such acts occurring in late November. But Lincoln was not even the first president to do so since George Washington had issued such a proclamation in 1789. More to the point for us, Confederate President Jefferson Davis declared Friday, November 15, 1861 as, “…a day of national humiliation and prayer…,” — a full two years before Lincoln’s more famous declaration. Now, Thanksgiving Day is little more than the opening day of shopping season. In 1861, however, it was a different story. At the time he issued his proclamation, Pres. Davis understood the enormity of the danger the South was facing and his decision to call upon the, “. . . clergy and the people of these Confederate States to repair on that day to their homes and usual places of public worship, and to implore blessing of Almighty God upon our people, that he may give us victory over our enemies, preserve our homes and altars from pollution, and secure to us the restoration of peace and prosperity” was more than just a platitude. (condensed) I pray that y’all have a blessed Thanksgiving and that you are able to do so without venerating our yankee and puritan oppressors and persecutors. We have much to be thankful for, particularly those of us who were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, through no merit of our own -- We who were given life and granted the twin gifts of repentance and faith by the Holy Spirit, with which we were brought to embrace the precious gospel of our salvation in the completed atonement of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Unto Him be all the glory and praise and thanksgiving! DEO VINDICE! TRUST GOD! STAY IN THE FIGHT! NEVER GIVE UP! NEVER QUIT! Your friend, Greg