Even for the Thorns

Today’s message was written by my friend Roger Kunkel.

Friend of Dial Hope, my only regret in writing and recording the messages is that I don’t get to look you in the eye and remind you that God loves you. God has blessed you so you may be a blessing to others.

On this coming Thanksgiving Day, try to focus on this passage from Lamentations 3:22-23:

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new / fresh every morning. Great is your faithfulness.

Let us thank God for the gift of each day which is an unrepeatable miracle. How do you use your days? Are you wasting them on self-pity, selfishness, whining, complaining, nit-picking, gossip, fear, negativity, and being a victim? The great Scots preacher George Matheson once wrote, “Lord, I have thanked you for the roses, but I have never thanked you for the thorns… yet, I climbed to you through the thorns of my hardship.” You see George Matheson was blind!

In his book, The Cost of Discipleship, Dietrich Bonhoeffer warned people about “cheap grace,” reminding us that Jesus died on a cross and yet we forget Jesus said to take up our cross and follow him. Sometimes we buy into a kind of decaffeinated Christianity… guaranteed not to keep you awake at night. Today, let us thank God for life with all its aches, pains, and troubles, and especially for Jesus Christ who came not to make life easy – but to make us equal to life.

Let us pray: In humility and gratitude, we thank you, God, for the precious gift of life. Help us with every fiber of our being to make this day a masterpiece, to take the road less traveled… to not only make a difference but be the difference. Watch over those who are traveling… teach us that we never journey beyond your loving care. How Great Thou Art! Through the grace of Jesus Christ. Amen.