Have a Great Thanksgiving....

This is the devotion I shared with my friends at The Well today. I thought I would post it here for anyone else who happens to drop in.

Have You Been Pardoned

Many of us are spending the morning getting ready for an afternoon feast, aren’t we? We can just smell and taste the cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, gravy, rolls, stuffing, pies, and turkey!!

Well, are you ladies familiar with one of the Thanksgiving traditions our country does each year? It is the official pardon of a turkey by the President of the United States. The president of the U.S. is presented with a turkey, which he pardons and the turkey is then sent to live a long life free from the fear of dying for anyone’s Thanksgiving dinner.

This tradition got me thinking about the pardon that we have been given if we have accepted the Lord as our Saviour. In the world today, we live in a time where many think that by living a good life they will make it to Heaven. So many people will try to look and act how they think they should, yet never begin to accept the pardon that Jesus came to bring them. Those of us who have been pardoned need to make sure we don’t lose that sense of urgency for those who are lost. We have so much to be thankful for and we need to be passing that thankfulness around.

The bottom line is that we are those who are to share the Good News of Jesus to those who are either do not know or do not really care that through Jesus we are pardoned and forgiven of our sinful life. We are not called to force people to be Christians or die, but we are called to share our faith, something if we are honest, many of us just do not have an urgent sense of doing as we should or are capable of doing.

1 Corinthians 9:22 To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.

We must recapture a sense of urgency for furthering the ministry of Jesus Christ to those who do not know him and for those who may have just forgot the need to be instruments of Christ. Far too often we are so caught up in the doing our own thing – especially on days like today when so much needs to be done - that we forget to BE ministers of the Good News of Jesus. We get more upset when things do not go the way we planned rather than the fact that there are people dying without knowing Jesus.

1 Timothy 4:14-16 Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all. Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.

How diligent are you in utilizing your gifts that God has given you? Will you have "unpardoned" guest around your table today that need to be set free?

The greatest thanks we can give to God today is sharing His goodness with all we are around.

The greatest thanks we can give to our guests is the gift of Jesus Christ and all He has done in and through you.

When it comes right down to it, what really matters to you? Is it what matters to God? And if so, are you willing to share it today?