Are you thankful?

Tomorrow is an important day in the lives of Americans. It is the day we celebrate the birth of our country and our freedom. Many have fought and died over the past 234 years so that Americans can have the opportunities that Thomas Jefferson penned in our Declaration of Independence:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

We have so much to be thankful for and we owe our thanks to those who have given their lives for us. They deserve our respect and our gratitude.

As a Christian, I also owe my thanks to the one who died and rose again so that I can have a different kind of freedom; freedom from the penalty of sin and freedom from spending eternity in hell. There is a song that says "I am free to run, I am free to dance, I am free to live forever; I am free..." I am thankful for the freedom that I have in Christ.

I also know that as an American and as a Christian that I must continue to be vigilant so that my freedom is not taken away. The tendency can be for us to get comfortable in our freedom. Galatians 5:1 says "Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage."(NKJV) I don't ever want to go back to the place where sin rules my life. I am proud to be a Christian and I am grateful for what Christ has done for me.

On this Fourth of July weekend, I would also declare that I am proud to be an American. I am so grateful for those who have given of themselves to protect this great country that I live in. You live out the final words that are written in our Declaration of Independence:

“And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor."

Completing the Task

Some people find it hard to complete a task or they get so distracted that they have multiple, uncompleted tasks. I have one of those personalities where I can only do one thing at a time. I'm not good at multi-tasking. If I do find that I am "wandering" over to begin something else, I end up talking to myself. The conversation usually goes something like this, "No, no, no......go back to what you were doing. You can't start this till you finish what you were working on."

I was reading from Acts 20 and Paul writes these words: "I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me --the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace." If there is one task we must be focused on and faithful to complete, it is the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace.

You may have unfinished projects, but I encourage you today to be faithful to complete the task that God has given to His people: be a conduit of God's grace to others and be faithful to testify to the gospel of God's grace.

Ephesians 2:4,5,8,9 (New Living Translation)
"But God is so rich in mercy, and He loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, He give us life when He raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God's grace that you have been saved).....God saved you by His grace when when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it."

This, my friends, is the gospel of grace that we have been tasked to tell others about. Let's get the job done.

God bless and have a great day!