To give thanks can be hard. Especially during times of loss or pain.
Children are a gift. They are our teachers. I share a lesson from a little child.
I heard about a very young boy who never knew his dad. His mom got very ill and died.
Relatives and friends expressed sadness around the boy.
Days turned into weeks, and weeks into months where the boy felt bad because everyone around him had unhappy faces.
He was sick of being sad and decided to do something about it. “People are happy when they get presents,” he thought, “I need to give presents.”
At first, he found things around the house and handed them to his relatives and neighbors saying, “This is a gift for you.”
The boy was changed, forgot his sadness and began to see smiles again.
The young boy asked if he could go to the dollar store to buy things he might give away to people.
“This gift is for you,” he would say to strangers in the park and hand them a little treasure. Smiles and thankfulness he received which made him very happy. Everyone he met was filled with thankfulness as they received his gift.
God holds out a gift, in this present, sad and dark day.
Our Father in heaven, Almighty God gave to whoever would receive:
For God so loved the world that he gave . . .
his one and only Son,
that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Can we hear Him with our eyes and hearts? Can we see His hands spread wide, “This gift is for you.”
Are we critical of the gift? Are we wise in our own eyes?
It’s time to learn from the children:
Jesus said: Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me Matthew 18:1-5.
Children. Believe. God.
We suffer loss, stress, pain. Today, . . . can we see the gift that the Lord holds out to us? His Word is Living. Comfort. Life. Hope. Peace.
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress,
My God, in whom I trust!”
For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper
And from the deadly pestilence.
He will cover you with His pinions,
And under His wings you may seek refuge;
His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.
You will not be afraid of the terror by night,
Or of the arrow that flies by day; Psalm 91: 1-8.
Is it time to decide to turn from the sadness? Is it time to turn to the Lord and let Him cover us in His love?
I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly John 10:9,10.
It’s time for life, and that more abundant. Jesus gives . . .
His arms are wide.
The Gospel message is this: We’re all separated from God. Sin has ravaged all of human kind.
. . . for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Romans 3:23.
But God, sent His Son Jesus to die in our place.
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord Romans 6:23.
As John the Baptist spoke as the messenger to “prepare the way in the wilderness,” Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near Matthew 3:2.
Eternal life begins the moment we believe:
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep.
I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd John 10:11-16.
Is today the first day of the rest of your life receiving the gift from the Son? Pray to the Lord. Do we have the Lord, but continue in stubbornness and pride?
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness 1 John 1:9.
Ask for His forgiveness in that we have all gone astray. Receive the cleansing of the blood of Jesus. And the Lord tells us we be new:
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 2 Corinthians 5:17.
If you have prayed to the Lord to receive His gift of salvation, let someone know! Amen.
Today, He has made all things new.