Before Thanksgiving Is Purity
I still cringe when I remember the story of a man in a motorcycle accident. His back was embedded with rocks when he scraped along the asphalt, and doctors had to cleanse every one before he could heal.
He didn’t say, “Thanks, doc. I’ll be fine. Just leave them in.” No. He had to go through some cleansing before he could truly thank the doctors for his healing.
Thanksgiving is a spiritual reminder to thank the Lord for His blessings, and communion is a good time to do some spiritual examination—pluck out those rocks—before thanking Him. It would be pretty hypocritical to thank God for all His blessings and not also want to live how He desires.
Communion includes a time of self-examination—a time of self-judgment (see below). Judgment is a way of life, and plays a major part in your eternity, and we have the blessing of being able to self-judge so we are not judged by God. What a blessing! That’s yet another thing to be thankful for—for the gift of repentance!
Let’s use that gift tonight. Imagine how pure your thankfulness can be when there’s nothing between you and your Savior.
God bless you.
-Pastor Ryan