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Are We Like the Pilgrims?

Billy Graham wrote an article called Six Things We Can Learn from the Pilgrims and shared some interesting insight about some needed lessons. In his article, he made an interesting contrast between people of our day and the Pilgrims of yesterday when he wrote of their faith and persistence: “In our day, agnosticism, anxiety, emptiness, and meaninglessness, have gripped much of our world—and even the Church. People are broad but shallow. By contrast, these Pilgrim forebears stand as shining examples of people who were narrow but deep. When I think about the Pilgrims, I would agree with Graham that they were “narrow but deep,” but are we really “broad but shallow?” I am afraid the answer is probably yes. How could the Pilgrims withstand all of the difficulties they faced (a nearly impossible voyage filled with stench, sickness, and even death; losing
about half of their number to death during their first year; and coming close to starvation because of their lack of wilderness skills) and still stand strong in their faith dedicating a special time for thanksgiving as they reflected upon God’s blessings on their lives? The answer is they were “narrow but deep.” They knew the word of God and stood strong on their faith. They
understood God’s call on their lives and took their steps of bravery out of obedience to God’s will in their lives.

I have a question I’m pondering on this day after Thanksgiving. No, it’s not should I have gone to Best Buy at midnight last night to see if I could have gotten one of the 9 cameras on sale for $149.99. The question is if we faced such difficulties in our lives right now as 21st century Christians, would we (as the church of Jesus) stand strong in our faith and even set aside times of thanksgiving and prayer for all of God’s blessings? While some would, I think many would not. Why? The answer is as Graham stated: we are “broad but shallow.” This needs to change. We will face days of growing difficulty, and a shallow faith based upon a shallow knowledge of the word of God will not provide us the spiritual resource needed to stand during the evil day. 2 Thessalonians 2 was written with the last days in mind, and God told us to “stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you.” So, maybe this Thanksgiving season could challenge all of us to prepare ourselves to always be able to give thanks to God and serve Him continually.

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