(Colossians 2:6-7)-Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
47 days until Christmas. 16 days to Thanksgiving. This is that time of the year where people get a little more forgiving, a little more generous, unless you are going shopping and then we get more impatient, more frustrated and more rushed. I wonder what makes us lose perspective so easily on those things that make us thankful. Is the hustle and bustle of the days, the change in daylight with it getting darker earlier and we feel like we have to rush or is it one of the things that happens because we lose sight of the people around us. Maybe we don't recognize that God gives us every experience to teach us how to give thanks in all situations. A few years back Sawyer Brown had a song called, "They Don't Understand," which describes various scenes in life where others get angry or frustrated at the actions of others, but don't really know the story behind what they see. The chorus goes:
Everybody's busy with their own situation
Everybody's lost in their own little world
Bottled up, hurry it up
Trying to make a dream come true
{They don't understand}
Everybody's living like there ain't no tomorrow
Maybe we should stop and take a little time
'Cause you never really know
What your neighbor's going through
{They don't understand}
Let's try to see the world through the eyes of our neighbors this year. Let's listen to their hearts and needs. Let's be thankful that God has given us ears to hear, eyes to see and hearts to understand. Let's be thankful that every person we encounter is there to teach and mold us to become more like Christ. Manley Beasley had a sermon called heavenly sandpaper. In that sermon he talks about how you take a block of wood cut it out in the shape you want and then use sandpaper to smooth the edges and shape it in to the perfect vessel. When Christ comes into our lives we get cut out in His image and then He uses the sandpaper of this world to shape and mold us to look more like Him every day. Let's be thankful for the sandpaper of situation. the sandpaper of people and the sandpaper of life that is molding us in to the perfect vessel that Christ wants.
Much love,
Preach
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