HAPPY THANKSGIVING DAY CANADA!
1 John 1:1. That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and which our hands have handled, of the Word of life.
Well my Friends, Neighbours and Country-men, it’s time once again for us all to give much glorious praise and joyful, heartfelt thanks to our Father, Lord, Creator and generous Provider for the many wonderful blessings He’s bestowed this past year on our rugged, beautiful and prosperous land of Canada! Wow! Canada; the Queen of the North! Where we have it better than ninety something percent of the world, but still find so many things to gripe and complain about. The problem is that we really don’t know how good we have it, and would be much more appreciative if we could only see and/or experience the poor, unsanitary, unhealthy conditions so much of the world lives in, especially with the many natural disasters recently taking place in the East. I know we have our fair share of poverty, homelessness, joblessness, violence and all those negative things, but compared to much of the world, we’re living in a virtual paradise, so please, let’s appreciate it, and instead of constantly complaining, work to improve it. That’s the end of my Thanksgiving spiel. (smile) And for those of you who wonder if I practice what I preach, the answer is yes, to most things, and I try, to the others, since I’m only human and thus fallible. Possibly that’s why the Most High conscripted me to write this Bit; He must have thought I needed some work. (smile) But as I implored those who celebrate the Sabbath on Sunday to do, I did go to church today and fellowshipped with other believers, and Rev. Ann preached on the same things I mentioned above; being too absorbed in the things of the world and worrying too much about our earthly problems, and not thankful enough for what we do have, or concerned enough with the things of God. And a cartoon in the Bulletin was ever so appropriate. It showed a human sitting with his elbows on a desk littered with bills, his hands covering his ears, his already sparse hair standing on end, his eyes helplessly staring at an adding machine and written around his head in a clockwise circle were the words, expenses, anxieties, bills, debts, worries, with a dollar ($) sign interspersed between each. But the great part is that at an open window, two birds sat on the ledge looking at him. One asked the other,’ What’s eating him?’ His companion replied, ‘I guess God doesn’t take care of him like he does us.’ And underneath were Jesus’ words, which we all know, but still refuse to follow. ”Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?’ (Mat.6:26,27) My Friends, none of us can add to our life span by worrying, but we can certainly shorten it by so doing. Anyway, it’s time to get to our Bit. Yesterday we stopped on the part ‘and our hands have handled,’ where Jesus appeared to the eleven disciples and invited them to touch Him and inspect His hands and feet. He also ate broiled fish and honey to assuage their doubts and fears and show that He was real. But my people, there’s even more evidence to show Jesus’ reality wasn’t virtual. We all know the story of Doubting Thomas, so named because He was the one absent when Jesus first appeared to the disciples, and when they told him that they’d seen the Master, he refuted their testimony, saying; ‘Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.’ (John 20:25) And knowing our Saviour’s penchant to satisfy our doubts, eight days later, He again appeared to the disciples behind closed doors. This time all twelve were there. And after His usual greeting of ‘Peace be unto you. Then saith he unto Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless (unbelieving), but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.’ (John 20:26-29) Oh Friends, what good news! That certainly includes us, who’ve never seen Jesus in the flesh, yet believe. We are blessed! Praise His Holy Name! Now let’s turn to the last part of the Bit; ‘of the Word of life.’ Here John’s referring to the statement in his gospel: ‘In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.’ (John 1:4-5) According to the scholars, when John talks about life, he’s referring to salvation and deliverance through Christ, and light denotes the revelation of God that Jesus proclaimed, which holds all men accountable. Defined that way, what John’s saying ‘of the Word of life,’ is very true. Through one third of the Trinity, the Son, He has indeed seen, heard, and touched the ultimate ‘I AM,’ that existed from the beginning, and will continue to exist for all time, thus giving absolute verification to our Saviour’s sojourn here on earth. Oh Friends, let me close with two important statements. The first is the major purpose of 1 John. ‘These things I have written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.’ (1 John 5:13) The next statement is the secondary purpose: ‘And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.’ (1 John 1:4) Yes Friends, it’s also to enlighten us, to show us the enjoyment and share with us the deep sense of satisfaction and purpose that knowing Christ and walking with Him brings to believers. May we all find that joy, that sense of purpose and satisfaction in our daily walk with Him, I pray this in Jesus’ Name. Amen. Much LOVE mih people!…enjoy the day…give much thanks…but don’t overdo it…
SCRIP-BITS 