Good morning, brothers and sisters.
Our verse for today comes from Acts 11:15, “As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning.”
The bible says some pretty amazing things right from the beginning. It begins talking about the beginning, declaring that in the beginning, God made the heavens and the earth. It also says that in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. Those statements paint a vastly different picture than what you and I encounter when we are at the beginning of something. With my several kids, they have written dozens and dozens of papers for school. And when they start, they always begin with a blank page and the challenge to generate the words and ideas to fulfill the given assignment. It’s just them, the blank screen, and whatever research and imagination they put together to produce the required result. Similarly, when we first begin an activity or endeavor, our initial attempt is full of questions and uncertainty. The first time I baked one of my favorite desserts, it took far longer than it takes now, and I was much less confident in the end result then than I am now. The first meeting of your club or committee, or the first year of your own business most likely looked nothing like they look today.
This is the beginning of the Thanksgiving week. We all have done Thanksgiving our whole lives, from being the hungry kid who just scarfed down a little turkey, a lot of mac and cheese, and hurried to the desserts, to the one who hosts the event for our entire extended family. We’ve got the menu nailed down with all the standards and everybody’s favorites. All the plans are laid out, and the anticipation and chaos will steadily climb. But this Thanksgiving will undoubtedly be different for many. It will be a new beginning to an old, familiar celebration. Cherished traditions and anticipated moments will not happen this time. Being together may involve a screen with many miles in between. Or perhaps it means a mask and foregoing the hugs and kisses. But even if it barely affects you and yours, it’s still a new beginning. We have had to deal with our own mortality in a real way, and many of us have discovered it’s more unnerving than we realized. But if God is a part of this beginning, like He has been in the others, He can make it a time when His glory and power can shine.
As we seek Him today, let your fears, frustration, or anxiety be replaced by a thankful heart that knows Jesus and will live with Him forever, no matter when forever starts.
Have a marvelous Monday.
#4 Rich Holt
Dad of Ripken, Koy, TrishaJean, Samantha, Kakie Holiday and Raleigh
Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them.
