IT IS TIME TO GIVE THANKS!

“Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Hebrews 1:3).

It is human nature to take things for granted and truly not to realize the greatness of the power of God already demonstrated. It was power beyond human comprehension that created the world out of nothing and everything in it that lives and breathes. The same power that created the world is the identical command that keeps the whole universe together: The Word of God that is proceeding out of the mouth of the Lord!

Have we stopped today to consider the efficiency and precision with which the Lord commands the world? The rotation of the earth around the sun is so exact that you could set a clock thousands of years in advance and have perfect timing because there is a consistency that God has set in motion. Were he to let go for just one second the whole universe would be thrown out of kilter!

Do we understand that many of Jesus’ greatest miracles were acts of restoration? In these awesome “reinstallation” miracles, the power of God was demonstrated to bring back things to the original state that God had set in order. In the beginning God made the eyes to see, the ears to hear, the legs to walk, and the tongue to talk. When Jesus encountered people with whom these gifts were no longer functioning, he healed them, bringing all back to the original intent.

In other words, when Jesus raised the lame man from his bed, it was the power of God that brought strength to this man’s legs, enabling him to walk. Likewise, when God created Adam, it was a creative miracle that formed his legs and enabled him to walk in the first place! Ultimately, it is the grace of God that enables all of us to see, hear, walk, and talk. We are all fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God; this is nothing short of the "amazingness" of the Lord.

This is not to mention the million particulars that must function properly for us to live. The heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, blood cells, intestines, muscles, and brain are all works of God infinitely beyond human strength. Let just one of these become diseased and the body starts to suffer.

On top of this, consider the bountiful provision of oxygen and sunshine and water and food that he gives on a daily schedule. Were it not for his hand, we would quickly perish into oblivion. He provides trees and precious metals and a million other things so we can have houses with furniture and other comforts of life.

The Apostle Paul put it this way: “For who maketh thee to differ from another? And what hast thou that thou didst not receive? Now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it” (1 Corinthians 4:7)? The answer is nothing; we received everything we’ve got.

There is no such thing as a self made man: Never has been, never will be. To truly be self sufficient, a man would first have to have someone kill him and cremate his body. Then he would need to have the dust that he is dumped into out of space. From there it would be up to him to create his life again and a universe and world that would be fully functional—all of this must be original, he can not copy what God has already done!

Ain’t gonna happen.

It is time to give thanks to the Almighty: Happy Thanksgiving!