Thankful, I am

            There is a little plaque where I work that says, “What if you only had today what you thanked God for yesterday?” It is a great little reminder.  Many friends on Facebook perform the 30 days of thanks in November, citing different people or things each day for which they are thankful; I too have done that in the past. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, so it is especially appropriate to express our gratitude to God. Considering that God gives us everything, we have much for which to be thankful.
            We give thanks for our children, our parents, siblings, friends or maybe the fact that we don’t live close enough to family that we have to spend an entire day together. Of course there is also clothing, food and shelter; you know, the basics. Although these are worthy entities for which to be thankful; there is one really obvious and very important item that doesn’t immediately come to mind as it should; the gift of salvation.
            For myself, this precious, eternal gift has always been a part of my existence. So much so in fact, that I think I frequently take it for granted like electricity or running water. There are areas of the world that do not have those luxuries and would give anything to have them. Eternity however, is not a luxury it is a certainty. Jesus became the sacrificial Lamb of God that paid the price for my sin and yours. Confessing this truth is something everyone will do, the bible tells us this in Philippians 2:9-11 “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
            Did you catch that? Every knee in heaven, on earth and under the earth; even those who go to hell will acknowledge Jesus Christ is Lord but it will be too late for them. I grew up believing that everyone knew and believed in Jesus. I know now that this is not the case, there are a great many people who are embittered toward the church, the bride of Christ. There are people who have never heard of Jesus, the mission field is broad. Some people will never know the love of Christ unless you (or I) show them. The force of love is the single most powerful force in the world, God is love.  May THAT force be with you!
            1 Corinthians 13:13 “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”


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