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The Focus
by Dennis Wheeler
Last night I took my family on a 'Family Outing' to one of my favorite places...WAL-MART!! Our journey to Wal-Mart was for one purpose only - to get the necessary food items to prepare the Thanksgiving feast for the guests and family who are coming to our home on Thanksgiving Day. I absolutely LOVE shopping at Wal-Mart...however I cannot say the same for my wife. She despises even having to drive onto the parking lot and search for a parking space!! When someone asks me to go to Wal-Mart...I get the same sensation that men do up north on the first day that deer hunting season opens!!
Anyway, as we were driving home from Wal-Mart our youngest daughter kept pointing out all the homes that were already decorated for Christmas. Trees were up...lights were on...lawn decorations were lit. Actually, it's a disturbing trend. Have you noticed over recent years that retailers seem to get in a great rush to get to Christmas. As soon as 'Trick or Treat Night' is over - the Christmas decorations start going up.
Thanksgiving is quickly becoming a forgotten holiday!
Could this trend to skim-over Thanksgiving actually be a reflection of what is happening in our culture: the neglect of gratitude in our hearts, both as individuals and as a society. In an age of 'rights' and crowded courtrooms, in a day of endless demands, we hear precious little today of people being 'thankful'.
Yet a spirit of gratitude should lie at the heart of the Christian faith. A thankful spirit is the ONLY response we can have to receiving something wholly undeserved. When all is said and done, Christianity consists of two things: an act of grace and a reponse of gratitude.
"God saved you by His grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God." (Ephesians 2:8)
In light of such unmerited favor, such undeserved grace, how can we not but give thanks?
At the center of our faith stands a lonely cross, beckoning a grateful response.
"Give thanks with a grateful heart.
Give thanks to the Holy One.
Give thanks because He's given Jesus Christ - His Son."
Celebrate Thanksgiving by Giving-Thanks!
He serves as the Senior Pastor with southwest Virginia church... a loving church family in Abingdon.
He and his wife Sharon have been married for over 27 years and are the proud parents of two beautiful daughters, one son-in-law, and two precious grandchildren, the second arrived arrived on the scene in September 2004!!
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