As another year soon draws to a close, we are about to enter what the world refers to as “The Holidays.” Thanksgiving Day and Christmas. On Thanksgiving in America, we celebrate the year’s bountiful harvest. And truly, even the least fortunate among us can still count our blessings... because even the poorest of Americans has more wealth, more comfort, more abundance than most of the rest of this world.
And yet, are we truly thankful? Do we really understand how good we have it? How fully we have been blessed by God? It’s easy to forget. Because television, print and radio advertising is ever present, taunting and tempting us with the things we lack. Exodus 20:17 spells out the last of God’s Ten Commandments: “Thou shall not covet...” Of all God’s laws, this one seems to be the easiest to break.
No matter what we have to call our own, there will always be someone who has more... and so we covet our neighbor’s house, his car, his boat, his job, his vacation, his money. But what if we truly had it “all.” What if we were the richest person in the world? We need not guess. Scripture tells us the story of King Solomon... the richest man in the world in his time. What did all his wealth provide for him? Ecclesiastes records his words of disillusion, desperation and sorrow. Here was a man who had everything, truly a worldly “king of kings.” And yet for twelve chapters of Scripture, he details how everything he did and all he had was meaningless. All was vanity, chasing the wind, destined to burn up like “paper in fire.”
But we need not look so far back as King Solomon. Consider the celebrities of our day, the world’s “Hollywood Heroes.” They may have more money than they could ever spend. They may have fame, luxury and creature comforts beyond anything the normal person will ever experience. And yet they are not fulfilled, and the one thing they want the most, peace of mind and soul, is simply out of their reach. Even though they may know nothing of God’s word, they will still readily confirm the truths of Ecclesiastes in their own lives. Consider Elvis Presley. Adored by millions, and yet so tormented in his soul that he sought out alcohol and drugs to numb the pain. More recently, consider the pain and grief of Brittany Spears, Lindsey Lohan, Miley Cyrus. Or perhaps the saddest of all examples: Michael Jackson. It seems to be a universal truth: “Money can’t buy you love.”
But Solomon was blessed by God, and though he did not ask the Lord for wealth, God gave it to him anyway, along with everything else he could have ever imagined. And yet near the end of his life, looking back on all he had and all he had done and accomplished, he still said, “All is meaningless.” It wasn’t until the very last few lines of Ecclesiastes that Solomon reveals the true meaning of life: “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind.”
The person who fears God and keeps His commandments lives with a clean conscience. This is the person, who on his death bed can look back upon his life with no regrets. This is the one who will enter the heavenly gates and hear the words, “Well done.”
So as we near our annual day of Thanksgiving, let’s do so with truly thankful hearts. If you are a Christian, though life in this world is hard, you have so much to be thankful for.
It’s easy to forget God in this busy world full of confusion. But that’s why we need to stop every so often and intentionally THANK Him. Someone once asked the question: “What if you woke up tomorrow with only those things you remembered to thank God for today?!” There’s a concept for you. He owns it all. He does not owe us anything, and yet He blesses us and gives us gifts beyond measure: pressed down, shaken together, running over! Like a doting Father, He even sometimes spoils us... He does not seek payment for His kind and loving gifts; or they wouldn’t be gifts. What He does ask for is a Thank You... The Lord wants us to be thankful and grateful, and not only that, but to then “pay it forward,” blessing others as He has blessed us.
Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His steadfast love endures forever. Let’s remember, it’s not about the turkey and dressing. Its not even about the family gatherings.... and it’s certainly NOT about ‘Black Friday!’ Its about intentionally taking the time to remember our Creator, our heavenly Father, who has blessed us so much and treated us with such great lovingkindness.
As much as the Lord loves a thankful heart, there is something else equally important to Him, and maybe moreso. You see, there are many among us harboring ill spirits of strife, jealously and unforgiveness. How can we come before the Lord with such a black stain in our hearts?
I’m reminded of the story Jesus told of the Unmerciful Servant. Peter had come to the Lord to ask how many times he should forgive people who sin against him. Peter thought seven times was a lot. Jesus told him seventy times seven... or in other words, there should be no end to granting forgiveness.
In the parable, a king called his servants to collect the debts they owed him. There was one servant who owed the king a great deal of money. The king ordered the man and his family to be sold in order to recover the debt. But the servant cried out and begged the king to give him a little more time and he would repay him in full. The king had compassion on the man, and not only did he not go through with his plans to have the man and his family sold, he forgave the debt completely.
Here was a servant, owing a debt to the king that he obviously could not repay quickly; in fact the debt was so huge he might never repay it in his lifetime. But the king had compassion on him. He tore up the bank note. He cancelled the debt.
But then the story goes on. This servant went out and tracked down someone who owed HIM money. Not a lot, but just a few dollars. This man begged the servant for more time to repay, but his response was nothing like the kind king’s. Instead he had the man thrown into prison... no compassion, no love for his brother. Only vengeance.
Friends, you need to understand, WE are that unmerciful servant. In each of our hearts, if not in deed, we have broken every one of God’s holy laws. Each of us owes our Creator a debt we can never repay. But in His mercy, He sent His Son, Jesus, to pay that sin debt for us. We do not deserve to have this debt forgiven. Instead, like the servant in the parable, we deserve the worst. But our heavenly Father, the King of kings has forgiven us. And with His gracious gift of forgiveness, we have the greatest gift in the world. We become new creatures in Christ. We become immortal.... we inherit eternal life with GOD! Friends, we’ve gone from deserving hell to having our own mansion in heaven! He hasn’t just forgiven our debt like a king or a banker... He has actually reached down from His heavenly throne and shown us His LOVE. He loves us! He loves us.
How, then, can we hold any grudge or nurse any unforgiveness toward anyone? What terrible thing could have possibly been done to us that we are justified in holding onto unforgiveness? We’ve been given so much. So much grace. Shame on any of us who refuses to forgive his brother or sister of anything.
So friends, I would urge you to examine your hearts and your lives. If there is any unforgiveness you have been harboring toward anyone, I would urge you to make it right. Restore those broken relationships. Perhaps you have a friend who has done you wrong. Maybe its a family member. Now is the time to let it go. And don’t just “let it go,” but REACH OUT and show them LOVE. Let them see God’s love in you, as you reach out and mend that broken relationship!
If you do not forgive those who trespass against you, how then, should the Lord forgive you your many sins? There are children who have not spoken to their siblings for years. There are parents who have disowned their children. There are husbands and wives living together who haven’t had a civil word to say to one another in thirty years. There are Christians in the church who have unresolved issues with their brothers and sisters in Christ. So I ask you: how can you really call yourself a Christian if you hold onto any unforgiveness? I don’t think you can. Such behavior is certainly not Christ-like. So don’t use the Lord’s name so casually... lest you be guilty of using it in vain.
Of course we can all find ways to reason ourselves out of our Christian duty to forgive. We can rationalize anything. But you can’t fool your conscience. Nor can you fool the Holy Spirit. If you choose not to forgive, you will reap in your body and soul the rewards you deserve... sadness, sickness, depression, despair. Perhaps even cancer and death. Honestly, this stuff will eat you alive. If any of you have something against your brother or sister, do not dare to come before the Lord’s altar until you first go and be reconciled. Forgiveness, you see, is the essence of Christian love. And though we may have everything in the world, if we don’t have love, we have nothing.
Soon another Thanksgiving will be behind us and we will be focusing next upon Christmas. Friends, let’s not just go through the motions of observing these as secular holidays. Sure, we all have our special memories and things we love about this time of year. The smell of pine from the Christmas tree; giving gifts to those we love; the laughter and excitement in the eyes of young children, experiencing for the first time the majesty and splendor of the Season. Though the wonder of it may have worn off for us as we’ve aged and lost our childhood innocence, it springs to new life in the hearts of our children and grandchildren... so we can experience it again, through them. And of course there are the delicious, elaborate feasts we only go to the trouble of preparing once or twice a year. These things are all great. We’ve been truly blessed.
But let’s take the time to be intentional about being thankful. Will you do that? Will you spend time in prayer and thank the Lord for His bountiful gifts? Acknowledge that whatever you have, is truly owned by God. It was His to give and He’s chosen to give it to you. Be thankful. Be grateful.
And will you be intentional now about mending those broken relationships, healing broken hearts and forgiving those who have sinned against you? Take this time, this season of the Holidays, to intentionally heal. You may feel what has gone between you can never be fixed. Not so. With Christ, all things are possible. And forgiveness and lovingkindness... these things are His will! Of course, He will bless your efforts to grant or to seek forgiveness.
Soon time will press on to the New Year. You can begin the new year with nothing having changed. Or, by God’s grace, your cup can be filled to overflowing with love, forgiveness, hope for the future, and a life of no regrets. The choice, of course, is yours. Choose wisely.
I wish you all a blessed time this Thanksgiving and Christmas. May the love of God be found in your hearts and your homes, and may you reach out and bless others in Jesus’ name, that the world might know and see the Savior in you.
