Dear Trekker,
In a few days, Thanksgiving Day will be upon us. We’ll celebrate Thanksgiving as an American ritual whether we are truly thankful or not. I don’t mean to begin this month on a cynical note, but holidays come and go. We either embrace Thanksgiving or we go through the motions. Sadly, “going through the motions,” for sure in an age of entitlement, is a pretty scuzzy stance in which to slip.
I was convicted anew recently in my daily Scriptural readings while meditating on Ezekiel 14-16. (Read these chapters, trekker, as a backdrop for this month’s newsletter.) All initiative to bless the Hebrew people was God’s. Note Ezekiel 15:6.7: “…I came by and saw you there, covered with your own blood, and I said ‘Live! Thrive like a plant in the field.’ And you did! You grew up and became tall, slender and supple, a jewel among jewels” (The Living Bible, TLB).
In a metaphysical, total life sense, all initiative to bring forth life is God’s. All sustenance for life is God’s; all provisions are His. He is the Creator God. He chose the Hebrew people to reveal himself more completely and personally that they might know and trust Him, (even though they couldn’t speak His name) that they might listen to and live out His special revelation of Himself to them… all to honor, praise and give Him thanks. “Made by Him and for Him” (the Pauline phrase in Colossians) should evoke “thanks,” not in words only, but in a life lived with Him at the center!
The Lord goes on to say, through Ezekiel, the “son of dust…” “You looked like a queen and so you were! Your reputation was great among the nations for your beauty, it was perfect because of all the gifts I gave you, says the Lord God” (Ch. 15:14).
But then a transition…notice carefully these words in v 15: “But you thought you could get along without me (italics mine) – you trusted in your beauty instead, and you gave yourself as a prostitute to every man who came along. Your beauty was his for the asking. You used the lovely things I gave you for making idol shrines and to decorate your bed of prostitution. Unbelievable! There has never been anything like it before! You took the very jewels and gold and silver ornaments I gave to you and made statues of men and worshipped them, which is adultery against me” (TLB).
The reader hopefully gets the picture! If God’s initiative, provision and grace are not accepted and actualized, by definition, we adulterate His love and grace. When we use His gifts for selfish gain, we prostitute His grace and provisions. We lose sight of the Giver as we focus alone on the gift. It is a downward spiral…no “Thanks,” then no integrity of life. Only downfall, suffering and death!
Adulteration of belief in God is the original adultery. Using His creative genius for selfish gain and fleshly lust is the real prostitution, one of soul and spirit, and always precipitates bodily abuse and misuse. No doubt this is why C.S. Lewis proclaimed boldly in Mere Christianity that the prostitute in the back pew may be closer to God than the self-righteous prig in the front row.
Genuine prostitution is bastardizing the best of creation and using it for one’s own pleasure and selfish gain, as opposed to thanking God for the beautiful gift and using it for His glory. If this is valid, are not we all before Christ enters, one way or another, despicable prostitutes, profaning the goodness and glory of God he has planted in us? And even “after Christ,” must we not be on our guard?
So this Thanksgiving, may we remember the holiday is not just about thankful words or intentions spoken on a special day! No, no… it is about lives lived thankfully day after day in fellowship with Him, lives lived in fellowship and thanksgiving for each other. Lives lived in a nation where yet we can live in freedom of speech, worship and assembly. To do less is to prostitute His grace and salvation to a troubled and drifting world.
How then should we live if we “believe” in thanksgiving offered up to a Holy God? If “entitlement” is often the antithesis of “thanksgiving,” how do we break out of the clutches that bind us? Let us change our lifestyle!
Someone is always hurting more than one’s self. We can bless neighbors by serving them in small ways. Be an encourager. St. Paul says we are “to encourage one another and build each other up” (1 Thes 5:11). Tell people, “God loves you and so do I.” Then demonstrate love by doing the deed.
Trekker, I am working on this. One can never demonstrate His love sufficiently to a hurting world. (I said recently to friend wife that I am adopting a new title…“I am CEO of the EMF”. When she said, What’s that? I responded, “Chief Encouragement Officer of the Extended Meredith Family!” Family is everything! Trekker, you are a part of my EMF, as far as I am concerned.)
Being an encourager means we look up to Him and out to others. The need for encouragement is everywhere. We all must be encouraged to leave the “life of prostitution.” It only happens when we see Him and others as more important than ourselves. Let’s bless people with words and actions. When we do, thanksgiving becomes more than a day…it becomes a lifestyle.
All of God’s gifts boil down to this…do we use them for His glory or ours? Our words and actions can lead people to life, or they can put to death. How will we express our thanks? It’s always been pretty simple. “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, mind, soul, strength and body…and your neighbor as yourself!”
Happy Thanksgiving, trekker… there is nothing else!!!
Your friend,
Jim Meredith