For all of my sweater-weather-loving friends, Autumn is here! If you’re anything like some of the gals I work with, you’ve been sipping down spiced pumpkin everything and lunching on steamy roasted tomato soups for weeks already. Here in the Midwest, as the leaves change colors more vivid by the hour, we know it won’t be long before Thanksgiving.
But what of it? Not everyone counts the days to laboring through worn-thin traditions or taking an entire season to remember the first life-preserving, cooperative harvest in a strange new land. I don’t intend to diss a National Holiday or devalue its significance. I love Thanksgiving! Seriously, though, how does Thanksgiving touch our lives today? While I humbly suggest an attitude of thankfulness is always a worthwhile pursuit, there’s a broader perspective here to consider.
I wonder, what’s the best news you’ve ever heard? Maybe that precious baby you’ve been waiting for is on the way, or possibly a lost loved one miraculously found their way home? Perhaps you finally accomplished something you’ve made considerable sacrifices to complete? All this is good news, worthy of celebration! But as great as any news might be, I can assure you, there’s something outrageously bigger—because it touches everything.
Recently, a new acquaintance listed reasons she couldn’t believe in any god, much less a Good God. She boasts insurmountable conflict with the idea—and who of us could blame her(?)! The things that girl has walked through in life are… beyond tragic. Only God himself can heal and bring peace to her soul. I have to believe He will.
Although all creation was created good by God, the Bible gives us the historical details of how and why things turned all wrong. Romans 3:10-18 describes what sin did to humanity. And while God’s perfect holiness requires him to judge sin, thank God, He graciously loves us. [Ephesians 2:4-5]
Consequently, the Bible foretells the good news of Jesus Christ—God’s plan for our rescue. God proves his goodness with Jesus’ birth, death, and ultimate resurrection. In this process, Jesus conquered evil and overcame death—all, to save you and me. In fact, God wishes that all would be saved. [1Timothy 2:3-4]
The Good News of Jesus is the very best news to celebrate at Thanksgiving! Have you heard it? Paul, an apostle of Jesus, wrote these words in a letter to the Roman church of his day…
Romans 3:23
all Scripture references from
…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 5:8
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 10:9
…that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
Romans 10:13
For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Romans 5:1
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
Romans 8:1
There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
Romans 8:38-39
For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
the New King James Version Holy Bible (NKJV)
Friends, it doesn’t get better than that!
To say the world is hurting today is, frankly, a gross understatement. What a mess we’ve made—who of us hasn’t contributed somehow? Hate grows like a weed, and hope is difficult to find, especially while searching merely within ourselves. Honestly, without Jesus, we don’t have a hope. We need Jesus’ Spirit to help us to love as the world needs and to care about the things God cares about.
As Thanksgiving approaches, would you consider within your heart, ‘Is my spirit alive?’ ‘Do I recognize and repent of my sin against God—having faith in Jesus Christ alone for my salvation?’ ‘Do I now have Jesus’ Holy Spirit within me, guiding me to love God and serve Him with my life?’ If your answer is yes to these questions, no matter what comes in these tragic days our world faces, you have Good News to celebrate this Thanksgiving. And I pray that you will.
Finishing up, would it be too much to ask you about your celebration? No pressure, but I’d love to hear your plans if you have them, or later, how you and yours celebrated and are blessed by the best news ever.
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