What are you thankful for? You know, I could go on and on, and I have. Someone this past week asked me what I was thankful for, and what did I reply? Well I went on a long tirade of things, all things that I was thankful that God has done for me. In my opinion there is no one else to thank, He has given us everything we have. But, you know, it has hit me today. That we Christians thank God for so much—I am not speaking against this—but honestly, do we even know what we are thanking Him for?
Are you thankful for Jesus dying for you? Honestly, how much do you know about what you really believe?? I mean, there are so many people who only realize what it is that they believe when they hit college or sometimes later. But what really does the cross represent?
I can give a very detailed version of the Crucifixion, but I won’t because even in description it is gory. But if any of you have ever seen the Passion of The Christ, you have a slight idea of what happened.
You see though, too often we say so much about what Jesus did, that we miss the point. So, He died a brutal death, okay, big deal! That was symbolism; it was not the earthly death that has granted us forgiveness! It was the reason that as Jesus sat in the Garden of Gethsemane, that He prayed; “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup from Me.” Do you honestly think that He was afraid to die? No!! When His disciples would be hung on a cross upside down, boiled in oil and so many other things and they thanked the people who killed them! And you think that the God of the Universe was afraid of that?! No, He was afraid of being separated from God, bearing the wrath of God for all sins of all people of ALL TIME. He did not want to go through that; that is why He prayed so earnestly; “Father, if there is another way, please, but if not, I will obey.”
So, this Thanksgiving, give thanks for what God has done. But remember what it is that He truly did! Learn what it is that you believe.
If I were to go to an avid football fan, and ask them how football got started, they could tell me. And who knows, because of that, I may become as devoted as them. Christ, His sacrifice, and His grace is so much more important than football. So, learn what you believe, and share it!
Have a happy Thanksgiving.
And thanks for reading,John Mark,
beautiful...
ReplyDeletei plan to print this and share it with others
thanks
here is something that someone shared with me some time ago... which he heard
ReplyDeletein a song by Seven Places:
"I look upon Your hill
Your broken body hanging still
Your blood drips down
Your face and brow
You broght me life through death
No greater Love than this
[Chorus:]
Surely He's borne our grief
Carried our sorrow
Though we've gone astray
It's by His stripes and wounds
We were healed
On that glorious day."
Thanks, I think sometimes that people miss the point of Christianity. And in doing so we take advantage of God, we have our parachute, so we are good. But what of the others?! There are billions out there, thousands die daily, so why do we sit around so much?? It baffles how lazy the American church is, yet other countries are dying to this cause. We have freedom to share, so let us do it!!
ReplyDeletethank God and all those who fought and died for our freedom!
ReplyDeletei think, that although maybe sometimes we are being lazy, more often we just tend to be kind of
thin-skinned and we shy away from getting ourselves into situations where people might reject us... or make fun of us
it can be difficult to face, but it is worth risking if we can help someone hear the Gospel
heroes often risk even their lives when trying to help someone in danger, i guess we can risk getting our feelings hurt!