You have probably heard someone say, “Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.”  “It is the only one that cannot be commercialized.”  While it may be true that Thanksgiving is not the most “profit taking” season of the year, there are those who post, at the top of their list of blessings, the capital gains from the sale of decorations, and preparations of Thanksgiving cuisine. 

  And then there are those for which the day has become only a gluttonous feast, often followed by a festival of folly.  For them, there is no thought of blessing nor giving of thanks.  What they have was earned by endless hours of toil and strain.  They have only themselves to thank—or so they say.

  Still others have taken the season seriously.  They carefully categorize their bounty in order to offer a sincere “thank you” to those who were instrumental in helping them to achieve their personal goals.  Their list of recipients is like the credits that roll up the screen at the end of a Hollywood feature film.

  What’s my point?  Simply this: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. (James 1:17)”  Thanksgiving was instituted with God in mind as its Object.  We have missed the mark!

  In 1863, Abraham Lincoln reminded the country,“We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation has grown.

But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own.

Intoxicated with unbroken success we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us.”  Perhaps we should be reminded again.

  If you temporarily lived in a country in which you were not a native, you might be referred to as a sojourner—a resident foreigner whose home is elsewhere.  Let’s say you are living in a country that is not your own, and the economy is turned upside down, inflation soars, political confusion divides the masses, civil unrest stokes violence in major population centers, morality has been redefined, laws have been reinterpreted so that evil wins the day, friends and neighbors have chosen isolation over the risk of promoting the old norm for fear of rejection—or worse.

  IF you were a sojourner, and IF this aptly described the country of your sojourning, what would you be inclined to think?  Perhaps you would remember the land to which you ultimately belong, and would rejoice in the fact that your loved ones, though far away, are fairing well.  The issues that plague the land of your pilgrimage cannot touch the distant shores of home.  …this welcomed thought calms the soul, and brings a tear to the eye.  Oh the joy that fills the hearts of those who possess a confident expectation of going to their peaceful homeland.

  The word sojourner is used several times in the Bible to refer to those who have been adopted into God’s family.  The illustration above represents our present plight, and the pleasant hope of all who have become heirs of God.  This troubled land is only the land of our pilgrimage, but there is coming a day when we who know Him, will rest in the eternal presence of God, in a place that we, even now, call Home.

  Jesus said to His followers, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. (John 14:1-3)”

  He also said, “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. (John 6:37)”  Won’t you join us?

  It seems that in our day, eternal truths and moral absolutes have been relegated to the status of Santa Claus, and anyone who maintains the old standards is deemed an intellectual child in need of enlightenment.  Godless generations have taken it upon themselves to impose a new standard for measuring truth and defining moral excellence.  This arrogant crowd actually believes that to change eternal absolutes, all they have to do is to announce it.

  But truth is not truth because someone believes it, and right and wrong are not defined by the whims, words or actions of mere men.  Truth is truth because God says so, and right and wrong are defined by the character of God.  They always have been, and always will be, no matter what we think or do.

  God says, “Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination. (Leviticus 18:22)”  —and so, homosexuality is an abomination.

  “God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. (Genesis 1:27)  —and so, there are only two genders, and God decided which of the two you are.

  God says, “The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God. (Deuteronomy 22:5)”  —and so, transgenderism is an abomination.

  God said of Jeremiah,“Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. (Jeremiah 1:5)”  —and so, a fetus is a living soul, and abortion is murder.

  God says, “…Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her. And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery. (Mark 10:11-12).” 

 Beware little man, you and I cannot change the truth or redefine moral absolutes,  …and God is holding us accountable for His.

   A few weeks ago I decided to finish a productive day with one last non-strenuous task before dusk.  There was just enough time to mow the lawn before the sun disappeared over the horizon.  After several rounds with the riding mower, I was patting myself on the back for making such good use of this last fleeting hour of the day, when I was startled by what sounded like a rock under my mower.  I quickly shrugged it off and decided that the season was almost over and I’d sharpen the blades when the grass started to green up in the Spring.  This event was far from tragic, …I thought.

  On my next round, I decided to watch carefully for any sizable fragments of rock that might be rediscovered by the blades.  As I approached the danger zone, I noticed what seemed to be small pieces of glass, foil and black rubber—none of which was large enough to fill a thimble.  It didn’t take long for me to consider how closely the color of the tiny fragments resembled the color of the protective case that housed my cell phone.  When I reached for my phone, the belt clip was empty.  I had just destroyed my little piece of technology that had more computing power than the devices used to land a rocket on the moon in 1969.  My heart sank.  It was indeed a sudden, tragic loss!

  Upon reflection, it seems apparent to me that incidents like this are likely to become more common in the future.  No, I’m not suggesting an increase in the likelihood of our chewing up treasures with lawnmowers, but that the useful treasures of earth may “tragically” start to disappear as more perilous times than most of us have ever known, become the new norm.

  My intention is not to be a “prophet of doom,” but rather, a discerner of the times.  As political, social, and economic foundations start to heave under pressures produced by the godless “isms” of man, it is refreshing to revisit the simple promises of the Bible. “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. (Matthew 6:33)”  The context of Matthew 6 suggests that “these things” include: food, shelter, and clothing.

   Did you ever stop to consider the creation of man?  Moses described the event just as God revealed it to him, in Genesis, the book of beginnings.  “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. (Genesis 2:7)”  The words “living soul” describe the life that lives within the body.  The Creator tells us that the soul of man is eternal—it will live forever, somewhere.

  Though some seem to struggle with the concept of creation, it is perfectly logical to believe that the human body, with all of its intricacies and complex systems, did not happen by chance. Nor could these exist without the intervention of intelligence and power that is otherwise unknown to man.  Once we cross this first hurdle, there is a second; we must explain the balance of nature with its innumerable forms of life and natural laws that boggle the minds of scientists and yet operate in silent perfection to sustain the life that is at home on Earth.  It is certainly logical to admit that the vastness and complexity of what we observe through our natural vision, our microscopes and telescopes, could be nothing less than the work of a Great Designer.  What would you call such a Being?  There must be Eternal, Omnipotent God.  The existence of all of creation demands it, the Bible declares it, and thousands upon thousands have surrendered their hearts and lives to Him for a lifetime, with no regrets.

  As giver and sustainer of life, God’s plan is as complex as His Being, but He gives us a glimpse into His unique purpose through His Word: “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: (Colossians 1:16)”  The Biblical evidence is irrefutable, you and I were created for God!  Soon after the creation the Bible tells us that sin separated us from God.  But not to worry, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)”