Is life a bowl of cherries? Will people smile in our face while they rob us blind or urinate on our head while telling us with a straight face that it is raining? I would say absolutely, friend. And yet, despite the total depravity of man, millions of us will gather around dinner tables today and enjoy
countless
blessings of the Lord until, engorged with the fat of the land, we
literally exhaust ourselves consuming good things. Has God given us
beauty for ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of
praise instead of a spirit of despair yet again (Isaiah 61:3)? I would
say affirmative, good people. God is good and His mercy endures (Psalm
100:5) no matter how far we’ve fallen, no matter how horrendously we
have treated His ‘other’ children, or how disobedient and self serving
we can be at any given moment in these lives we owe to Him alone. We can
only achieve relative goodness whereas God is infinitely, absolutely,
and preeminently so. Sin only needs opportunity to be realized in us. If
we do not well, sin lies at the door (Genesis 4:7). Therefore, I thank
God He has made a way that we, being weak in the flesh (Romans 6:19),
once we have confessed our sins and accepted His blood bought
forgiveness, can be cleansed from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9) and
even come boldly to His throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and
find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16). Hallelujah! Yes. I am
indeed thankful today and every day for so great a salvation as God has
wrought for me in, by, and through Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son
(John 3:16). I think this is what I will meditate upon before I lose
consciousness from Thanksgiving stuffing today. Pun intended.
© 2012 Brian L Hunter
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