As we celebrate Thanksgiving tomorrow, there are many things for which we should be thankful. Our gratitude should first be for the cost of Calvary and the salvation from sin and hell that has been provided by our loving God through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is available to all who will come to Him in repentance and faith.
Although America is not ‘God’s chosen nation’ as is Israel, let us focus our attention upon this great land. The USA is the place where most of us have had the privilege of being born and raised. Few other nations have the God-given natural advantages of America and southern Canada. Let us count our blessings as citizens of this great nation.
No other nation in the world has as much arable land as the US. It is said that the American Midwest, where we live, is the world’s largest contiguous piece of farmland. Other large pieces of farmland include the Atlantic Coastal Plain, the Central Valley of California, and south-central Canada.
There are more major ports on our Atlantic coast than in all the rest of the Western Hemisphere combined. America has a wealth of sheltered bays and extreme indentations allowing for ports. These would include the Great Lakes, the Saint Lawrence Seaway, Chesapeake Bay and San Francisco Bay.
America has an abundance of rivers. The Greater Mississippi Basin, along with the Inter-coastal Waterways, has more miles of navigable internal waterways than the rest of the world combined. There are also the major river systems of the Missouri, Ohio, Red, and Tennessee Rivers.
Another important feature of the major rivers of America’s heartland is that they are navigable. This is because they do not originate in high elevations. This allows America to have the cheapest and most efficient transportation system in the world for its products. The vast bulk of America’s prime agricultural lands are within 125 miles of a navigable river.
Because America has two coasts (Atlantic and Pacific), it can trade with both Asia and Europe.
America is naturally secure from enemy attack. The two aforementioned oceans form a natural barrier. To the south is desert, to the north timberland, mountains and lakes. Its natural layout makes it secure like no other nation its size.
The US is the least densely populated of the major global economies in terms of population per usable land. Other nations (Russia, Canada, and Australia) may be less densely populated, but much of their land is economically useless.
America has at least ten cities with more than one million people. Most major nations have a single, primary political/economic center.
These are just a few of the many natural blessings that God has showered upon America. When we say, “God bless America”, truly God has blessed America. We can be very thankful for the opportunity to live in such a God-honored land. Let us pray for America that it indeed would be worthy of His continued blessings.
“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14)