This is the first Thanksgiving that I have spent apart from my family. As we were just together a few weeks ago for my sister's wedding it was agreed upon that it would also serve as our celebration as we certainly had many things to be thankful for during that weekend. Given the inclement weather and my brother being in Chicago it appears for the best that we would reconvene as a family at Christmas.
It is also of benefit to me as I feel the need for time with God. I need this time of rest, reflection and meditation. This morning has already proven fruitful in those endeavors. As a cold rain (and now snow) falls outside, I am thankful for God's presence and His truths which have been expressed through Hank Hanegraaff and the beginning of Charles Spurgeon's autobiography.
"If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead." - Luke 16:31
My "Jewish" friends are never far from my thoughts. I put Jewish in quotes to indicate that while they have ancestral connections and engage in some of the customs, their belief in the Torah is anything but foundational. This verse reminded me of the night of the BBQ and the never ending skepticism that was thrown my way regarding God's truth. Truly, there is no amount of apologetics that I can present that will convince them to accept God's truth as absolute. Only an act of the very God in question will suffice. I do find that freeing...knowing that I am responsible only for sharing diligently...not for changing their hearts.
Charles Spurgeon recounts a story of a servant who asked his master to be allowed to leave his cottage and sleep over the stable. What was the matter with his cottage? "Why, sir, the nightingales all around the cottage make such a 'jug, jug, jug,' at night that I cannot bear them." A man with a musical ear would be charmer with the nightingales' song, but here was a man without a musical soul who found the sweetest notes a nuisance. This is a feeble image of the incapacity of unregenerate man for the enjoyments of the world to come, and as he is incapable of enjoying them, so is he incapable of longing for them.
Read that last sentence again. In our last Bible Study, Francis Chan asked us through "Crazy Love", "Why do so few people genuinely find joy and pleasure in their relationship with God?" What do you think?
If you don't love God you won't enjoy Him. If you don't enjoy God you won't desire Him.
"The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies Me." ~ Psalm 50:23
"If mans hunger proves he inhabits a world where food exists, my desire for Paradise is a good indication it exists." - C.S. Lewis
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