Dear Family and Friends,

I had a very scary thought yesterday. It was so startling I have to ask – am I the only one who’s thinking this way?

What was I thinking?

I found myself looking forward to the day after Thanksgiving, Black Friday, rather than the day set aside for giving thanks – Thanksgiving.

And to make matters worse, I was hoping to find deals on stuff that I don’t really need…

Is it just me?

‘Tis the season my friends.

We are about to enter the season of Thanksgiving, the day originally meant to celebrate the blessings of God. And Christmas, the day Jesus “made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.”  Philippians 2:7 NIV

But we live in a world that doesn’t know God and Jesus. A world that continually creates new ways to distract us from the real reason for the season. Have you heard of Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, Giving Tuesday?

As the world continues to bombard us with distractions, how can we stay true to our faith?

By following the example of the early church – making Jesus a part of our everyday lives.

“Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”  Acts 2:46-47 NIV

Now I recognize that meeting together daily may not be realistic.

But there is one thing we can do on our own every day – go on the offensive. Rather than sitting back and trying to ignore the attacks on our hearts and souls, let’s take up the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, and fight back. (See Ephesians 5:17).

My suggestion is we spend time every day through the end of the year reflecting on what Jesus did for us on the cross. We can read through the Gospels. Or the short verses that follow:

“And the Lord God said, ‘The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.’”  Genesis 3:22 NIV

It didn’t matter what we did or how good we were, eternal life was once beyond our reach.

“The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.”  Genesis 3:21 NIV

But God sacrificed a living creature to clothe Adam and Eve. In doing so, He showed His willingness to accept a substitute sacrifice to cover our nakedness, in other words our sins.

“He [Pilate] released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will.” Luke 23:25 NIV

At His trial before Pilate, Jesus willingly became the substitute sacrifice for Barabbas, a sinner who, in God’s eyes, was no worse than we are.

“Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, ‘I am thirsty.’
When he had received the drink, Jesus said, ‘It is finished.’ With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” John 19:28,30 NIV

And with that act, Jesus became the substitute sacrifice for you and I.

“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”  2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV

Charles Spurgeon once said, “The heart of the gospel is redemption, and the essence of redemption is the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ.” 

Let’s spend every day for the rest of this year staying focused on Jesus and remembering what He endured on our behalf.

In love always,