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thanksgiving

Unfair Treament

“But that’s not fair!!!”  You can almost hear the whining voice of a four-year-old complaining about not receiving the treatment he thinks he deserves. To the child’s young mind, it doesn’t seem fair that older brothers and sisters get to stay up later than he does to watch TV because that’s unwarranted favoritism.

But how many young children voice objections about fairness when they receive something BETTER than they deserve? As a twelve-year-old, did you complain that your four-year-old sibling did not get to stay up as late as you?

Jacob had left Canaan on less than good terms. He had tricked his aged and blind father Isaac into giving him the blessing that belonged to his older twin brother, Esau—not fair!! For this, Esau hated Jacob to the point of wanting to kill him. Jacob had to flee Canaan with only the clothes on his back and a staff in his hand. He would spend the next twenty years working in a foreign country.Read More »Unfair Treament

Firstfruits for Life

A drive through the countryside shows that this year’s long harvest season is finally drawing to a close. After a very wet October and long backups at the grain elevators in November, the crops are finally in.

Perhaps it’s no coincidence that our annual Thanksgiving celebration comes at this time of year, at the close of the harvest, when we can clearly see how the Lord has blessed the land and us.

In Bible times it was different. Their thanksgiving came at the beginning of the harvest. The farmers would take the very first of their produce, put it in a basket, and present it before the Lord as their offering of “firstfruits,” as it is described in Deuteronomy chapter 26. In this way they gave honor to God. It was their way of saying “This is just the beginning, O Lord, and it all belongs to You, for it is You who made the soil and the sun. You are the one who brings the rains, and causes the seeds to grow.”

Our annual in gathering of crops should be a reminder to us all of a greater harvest day that is coming. It will be a harvest of all people, on the day that our Lord Jesus will return and raise all the dead. He will gather all His believers to His right hand side and invite them to enter with Him into eternal life. The Bible says that there will be a great many others who will not be a part of this harvest that leads to life, but will instead be condemned for eternity.

Will you and I be at the Lord’s right hand side on that day? How can we know?Read More »Firstfruits for Life

Thanks, But No Thanks

“Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations.” — Psalm 100:4-5

I invite you to consider with me two common expressions with the word “thanks” in them, and to apply them to spiritual matters.

The first is “Thanks, but no thanks.”

This expression is used in our society as a polite way of acknowledging the generous offer of someone but then for whatever reason declining the offer. Perhaps we don’t want the contents of the offer or we may think that the offer is too much and we are undeserving of it.

During this month our country as well as many others set aside a specific day to remember to give thanks for what we have been given.

Thanksgiving was declared a holiday by our government in 1863 during the Civil War, and a fixed day—the fourth Thursday in November–was set by Congress in 1942 during World War II.

Surely there is nothing wrong with a day devoted to giving thanks, although for a Christian it is appropriate to do so every day. And certainly there are many reasons for Americans to be thankful–food, shelter, family, freedom, and so on.

But this holiday, like many others, would be empty without the main reason for giving thanks to God. That reason is Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins. “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” (Rom. 8:32)

Unfortunately, many people are blind to this true reason for giving thanks. Perhaps they don’t want what Jesus has to offer. Perhaps they feel the offer of forgiveness of sins is too much and they are undeserving. For them it is “Thanks, but no thanks.”Read More »Thanks, But No Thanks