Glenn Beck's preamble to his Thanksgiving Day guide.

America is a covenant nation. Covenants are promises between man and God. In covenant promises, man makes a commitment to follow God, and God pours out His greatest blessings upon man. Whenever God sets apart a people and a land, as He did with Noah and Abraham, He does so by covenant. America was created to be a place where God could reside and guide His children. It was created to be the dwelling of a righteous people dedicated to serving the Lord and serving each other. In the words attributed to Alexis de Toqueville, “America is great, because America is good. If it stops being good, it will stop being great.” America’s goodness leads to America’s greatness because that is what it means to be God’s covenant nation. When we follow God, we are blessed and prosper.

The pilgrims were led to the New World so that they could establish themselves as God's people. To them, the pull of America was not riches and gold, it was not slavery and profit, it was religious freedom. They sought the right to follow God. They wanted to establish His covenant nation. England would not allow such a people to exist. In the words of William Brewster, senior elder of Plymouth County, “[the pilgrims] shook off this yoke of antichristian bondage, and, as the Lord's free people, joined themselves by a covenant of the Lord in the fellowship of the gospel, to walk in all His ways.” They made America into a Covenant nation.

What’s more it was a nation that would prepare the world for the coming of of the Lord. John Winthrop believed America was where we could build “the body of Christ...under a due form of government both civil and ecclesiastical...A city on a hill.” A place to show the world what it means to be God’s covenant people.

What a terrific blessing for the inhabitants of this great land! And what a terrific responsibility. It is our job to protect and uphold America’s divine inheritance. Yet we have lost sight of that great blessing. We no longer understand what we have been given, and we often fail to even express gratitude.

Part of the reason we’ve lost sight of this grand blessing is because we don’t understand how central the American covenant was to our history. In almost every great moment of American transformation, the arrival of the pilgrims, the founding, the Civil War, etc. there has been a newfound dedication to the principles of the American Covenant. There was always an effort to give thanks to God for His bounty and blessings upon this land. Those moments were almost always at Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is the nation’s oldest national holiday. From the settlers of the Mayflower, to the declarations of Abraham Lincoln, it has been a beacon of America’s divine heritage. A time to recognize the covenants and promises made with our forefathers. Those covenants and promises are as follows.

The Mayflower Compact

We, whose names are underwritten, having undertaken for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian Faith, a Voyage to plant the first Colony in the Northern parts of Virginia; do by these presents solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God and one another, covenant, and combine ourselves together into a civil body politick, for our better ordering and preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid.”

John Winthrop of the Massachusetts Bay Colony

Thus stands the cause between God and us. We are entered into covenant with Him for this work. The Lord will be our God, and

delight to dwell among us as His own people, and will command a blessing upon us in all our ways, so that we shall see much more of His wisdom, power, goodness, and truth. We shall find that the God of Israel is among us.”

George Washington, declaring the first Thanksgiving in 1789

“It is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God. Both Houses of Congress requested me to recommend a day of public thanksgiving and prayer. Now therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November to be devoted to the service of that great and glorious Being. That we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions. To enable us all to perform our several duties. To render our national government a blessing to all people by being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws. To protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations. To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us. And generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.”

Abraham Lincoln’s Thanksgiving proclamations during the Civil War, given in 1863 and 1864 respectively

“In the midst of a Civil War of unequaled magnitude and severity, population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the battle-field. The country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom. No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. I do, therefore, invite my fellow citizens to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November, as a day of

Thanksgiving and Praise for such singular deliverances and blessings, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and Union.”

“It has pleased Almighty God to prolong our national life another year. It has also pleased our Heavenly Father to favor our citizens in their homes as our soldiers in their camps. Moreover, He has been pleased to inspire our minds and hearts with fortitude, courage, and resolution sufficient for the great trial of Civil War into which we have been brought by our adherence to the cause of freedom and humanity. Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, do hereby appoint and set apart the last Thursday in November as a day to be observed by all my fellow-citizens as a day of thanksgiving and praise to Almighty God. And I do further recommend to my fellow-citizens that they do reverently humble themselves in the dust and from thence offer up penitent and fervent prayers and supplications to the Great Disposer of Events for a return of the inestimable blessings of peace, union, and harmony throughout the land which it has pleased Him to assign as a dwelling place for ourselves and for our posterity throughout all generations.”

In honor of that great American Covenant, this Thanksgiving you are invited to make a national covenant, for the benefit of yourself, your family and your nation. Over the next three weeks you will prepare, with your fellow citizens, to take upon yourself the American Covenant. You will attain a better appreciation and understanding of your Heavenly Father, your family, and your nation. You will prepare to bear these responsibilities, and in doing so will bring down the power and blessings of God. As they always have, our united efforts will propel this nation forward, whether this covenant is made by 200, or 200 million. Where two or three are gathered in God’s name, there shall He be also. Let us go forth with power and zeal, to reclaim Thanksgiving as America’s covenant holiday.