Okay, I know I’m a bit early, but I REALLY love Thanksgiving, so bear with me if you end up with two Thanksgiving posts from me this year, the second one being just days before that wonderful holiday.
Now I know we should celebrate and practice Thanksgiving all year long, and in many ways we do. But I also believe it’s important to set aside at least one day to formally observe our many blessings. And we have an abundance of them, don’t we? As believers in a relatively free society (at least for now), even most of our worst days are better than anything people have in non-free societies.
As a longtime supporter of ministries such as Voice of the Martyrs, Open Doors, and China Aid, I am very aware of how deeply some of our Christian brothers and sisters suffer around the world. And yet…yet I find they are often much more appreciative and grateful for what little they have than are we who have so much.
Putting aside the usual reasons for being thankful—health, family, friends, etc.—these suffering believers are grateful beyond words if their family or even their village has one Bible of their own, something most of us take for granted. I know I have scores of different versions in my office. Yes, I am grateful for them, but I wonder if I’m as grateful as the Christian in North Korea who not only finds nourishment and encouragement in just one page of a Bible but also risks his very life to possess that forbidden page. It is beyond the comprehension and imagination of many of these persecuted believers that they would ever have not only a complete Bible of their own but another Christian book as well.
In honor of these beloved saints who pay such a high price for their faith, I ask that you would especially praying for them during this Thanksgiving season. I also ask that you consider what one book (beside your Bible) you would keep if you had to give up all the others.
That’s a very difficult choice for me, but I’m leaning toward My Utmost for His Highest or Hinds’ Feet in High Places or even The Chronicles of Narnia. What about you?