November 19, 2014 James 1:27 (NKJV) 27 Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. Today is a busy day in the McClendon household. Not in comparison to many of your households. I’m sure your schedules are packed with work and ballgames and church activities. But for the lovely Libby and me it is a really busy day with trips to the cancer center for blood work, to the grocery store for Thanksgiving goodies, to Guntersville, Albertville, Rainsville and even Fort Payne for the most enjoyable trip of the day – to the lovely and historic DeKalb County Courthouse. (Hardy harharhar!) But I’m thankful we can make these trips unassisted. And I’m most thankful that we can make some of them together… What do you have to be thankful for this Thanksgiving HOLYday? (Spelling intended) As I sit to share God’s Word with you this morning I am thinking back on my childhood and, in so doing, I’m reminded of just how much I have to be thankful for today. I remember times when my family didn’t have two dimes to rub together, but we weren’t poor. We lived on a farm so we never went hungry. We always had enough to feed visiting revival preachers, set out our Sunday best for visiting big-city kinfolk and such. But the times I thought of this morning were those times when Mother would cook up some of our best and Daddy would deliver it to families in need. Not so much in need of food as in need of comfort. Comfort was Daddy’s specialty. He always had just the right story to tell that would comfort an aching heart. As has been the case on many recent days, there have been times in my life when I wished I knew someone like Daddy that would visit me with just the right story to comfort my aching heart. Perhaps you’ve been there too. Jesus said, “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.” (Matthew 7:12 NLT) Take action! Do it! If I want others to visit me in my time of trouble, I am supposed to visit others in their time of trouble. I may not be the storyteller Daddy was, but I can still let others know I love them and care for them. I am so thankful for the many Daddy-like storytellers that have visited us in our current time of need. Old friends and new alike have dropped by to tell heart-warming stories that soothe our aching hearts. Brothers and sisters by blood and by the blood of Christ have cooked a meal and each in their own way has let us know how much they love us and are praying for us daily. We praise God for each one of them. When I think of all this, the blessing of comfort each one has provided, I have to admit I’m also feeling a little guilty that I haven’t always been the friend I should have been to them and to others. How about you? But the good news is that, if we’re still breathing, it isn’t too late start. Maybe it’s time we made the Thanksgiving Holiday a HOLYday. Maybe we should do something good for someone we don’t even know. It doesn’t have to be a big thing either; just fill a need from our own abundance or become a friend like Daddy. You know, a friend that knows how to tell just the right story that comforts an aching heart – the story about Jesus! The writer of Hebrews said, “Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” (Hebrews 13:2 KJV) Am I entertaining angles…? Are you? Think about it and… Have a Blessed HOLYday!!!
Posted on: Wed, 19 Nov 2014 14:34:51 +0000