Posted by Jim_Daly Nov 23, 2011
Tomorrow’s celebration of Thanksgiving conjures up so many memories for all of us. As I’ve shared in the past, my recollections of the holiday as a child bring with them a mixed bag of emotions.
While I looked forward to the celebration, we didn't have much. And, when my parents got divorced, with mom working several jobs just to make ends meet, times were hard. My mom did her best to pull together enough stuff to make it special. Some years we had more, other years we had less. She worked in the kitchen with what she had, sometimes cooking for hours trying to make it right.
Has it ever occurred to you that the typical Thanksgiving family feast is something of a metaphor for the abundant nature of our Christian faith?
Ours is a generous and gracious God who gives and gives and keeps on giving. If we want to come back to Him for another serving, He is more than willing to treat us to an overflowing portion of His truth and goodness. Jesus alludes to this in John’s gospel when He says, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (10:10).
So when you reach across the table tomorrow for that second serving of stuffing or sneak a third piece of pumpkin pie during the Dallas and Miami game, you might soothe your conscience (though not your waistline!) by reminding yourself of the Lord’s abounding nature.
No matter your problem, the Lord is available to you, again and again and again. Go directly to Him.“Seek the LORD while He may be found,” wrote the prophet Isaiah, “call on Him while He is near” (55:6).
A joyous, much-blessed, happy Thanksgiving from our home to yours!
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