Good Morning Church! Are You Ready For A New Start?
As we approach Thanksgiving, I am deep in thought about what’s next.
Even before the turkey has thawed, I am contemplating my plans for the year ahead.
A few years ago, a friend of mine forever changed the way I view the period between Thanksgiving and the New Year.
He began talking about the holiday trilogy.
Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years.
He said this is the time of year when we should all reset our lives and remember what matters most.
He outlined the focus of each holiday.
Thanksgiving, is of course a time to reflect on the blessings.
Learning to see the blessings of our struggles, and to rest in the blessings that give us peace and pure joy.
Christmas — The celebration of CHRIST’S birth, is a reminder of new birth.
The new birth we have to life because HE came.
But it’s the reason HE came that inspires the rest of the trilogy.
HE came to fulfill HIS purpose. To offer the final, perfect sacrifice for our salvation.
With that as our inspiration, New Years Day will never be the same.
Instead of making one resolution after another, that only addresses a small aspect of the things we need to do better in our lives. We can instead, reflect on our purpose, and a new opportunity to start fresh and to see it through.
The Trilogy of Holidays!
Thanksgiving — give thanks
Christmas — new birth.
New Years — finding purpose.
My friend concludes his trilogy presentation, with the story of a man, who finds himself facing St. Peter as he enters heaven.
As they talk, St. Peter asks him if there is anyone he would like to meet, he says it can be anyone at all.
The man thinks for a moment, and asks first to meet a sports hero. Then he asks to talk with a historical icon, and then finally, after lengthy conversations with both men, St. Peter turns to the man and says, “Is there anyone else?”
The man thought for a moment then said, “Yes, I was a soldier. Can I meet the greatest military general that has ever lived?”
St. Peter thought for a moment, and then escorted the man into an alley around a corner. He pointed to a cobbler sitting on a bench repairing shoes.
The man said, “That’s the greatest general that has ever lived? I don’t recognize him.” And St. Peter said, “No you wouldn’t. He had all the values and the characteristics of a great leader, but his father was a cobbler, and his father before him was a cobbler and so he felt he should be a cobbler too.”
The cobbler was able. He was a good man, but he missed out on the greatness GOD had set aside for him.
What about you?
Are you, are we, fulfilling the plan HE has for us, or like so many others are we simply playing it safe?
What would happen if all who believe in GOD decided to take HIM at HIS word?
What could we be? How many lives could we help to change? How many diseases would be cured? How many lives saved? How many purposes proclaimed?
So this Holiday Season why not push the reset button.
Start on your knees thanking GOD for it all.
Prepare for the renewal of CHRISTMAS.
Then let the New Year propel you into the great unknown — the thing you were purposed for, and that you can only find by being wholly and completely obedient to the plans GOD has made for you!
God Bless
LaVern Vivio
November 19, 2017
