Whr R U gng 4 Thxgvng?

     In this day of quick serve, fast food, express line checkouts, and online instant banking, do we ever slow down enough to think about how truly grateful we should be for what we’ve been blessed with?   I know I get caught up in the busy-ness of life sometimes and forget about how I got what I have.

    Thanksgiving Day (as most American school children are taught) was initially celebrated by the first permanent English settlers in the New England region at near what is now Plymouth, Massachusetts.  They shared a fall harvest celebration with the Native Americans they had befriended.  The settlers were by majority seperatists from the Church of England, and they wanted to share in the bounty of what they had produced (with the Indians help) with their new-found friends; but even moreso, they wanted to show these people their gratefulness to God for getting them to the point where they were, and for supplying the needs they had.  

     This coming Thursday, most families in America will celebrate Thanksgiving Day.   Unlike most  meals,  a prayer might be said over the meal and then it is stuff yourself till you can’t eat anymore.  Let me ask a question here…Why is it that in the land of plenty, where we have 365 days to thank God for his blessings to us, we choose to do so for one day only, then actually relegate this distinction  to a mear prayer over a meal that lasts less than 30 seconds?  Where is the real thanks?  Where is the heart that is truly grateful for what we have? 

     For the past week, I have been posting on my Facebook page daily thankfulness postings.  These are random things I am grateful to God for.  My long time friends know I am one who continually thankful for what I have.  I have been blessed with a great family, a home, food, heat, electricity, running water (both hot and cold no less).  I have a pickup and minivan (Tammy’s) that run well….I have good health, a steady job, a great network of friends, both old and new, I could go on and on thanking God for what most people overlook as true blessings.

    I have one  thing to be thankful for that has not been mentioned above; I thank God for not giving up on me…you see God gave his only son, Jesus Christ to live here on Earth as a man, to lead a perfect, unstained, sinless life and then allow him to beaten, spit on, mutilated beyond recognition and left to die a criminal’s death sentence on a cross.  Jesus one “crime”…to say he was the promised Messiah…he had fulfilled ALL of the prophecies foretold centuries before his birth, he performed miracles that no one there could deny, he led a life of humility and servanthood, yet was treated like a felon because he had the audacity to say I AM THE KING OF THE JEWS, THE MESSIAH, THE ANOINTED ONE!  This story doesn’t stop there…his death was just the beginning of the story!  Christ’s resurrection from the dead 3 days later gave proof of his claims and sealed all of the prophecies made about him.  This is the Christ I serve; this is the Christ I worship!

I have so much to be thankful for, but my relationship with Jesus Christ is the thing I am most thankful for!!!

Nov. 14,2010

P.S.   I posted thisblog almost 1 year ago but I still go back to it every once in a while to reflect.  The real question I ask myself is “Am I “reflecting” Jesus in my personal life?”  Can people see Christ in me or do they see just me trying to do life on my own?  Does writing a spiritual sounding blog make me more Christ-like or is it the actual life I live?  I want to be known for the way I live my life, not by what I write, so I am issuing a challenge to all of my friends, family and those I ever come in contact with.  I am asking you to personally confront me if you see me doing, saying or being anything that is other than what you would expect from Jesus Christ himself.  For my friends who do not follow my faith in Jesus Christ, please base my actions on the basis of what your faith deems a righteous life.  Your feedback is greatly appreciated.

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