I love breaks like this week because it allows me to take time out to reflect on where I’ve been and where God is leading. In light of Thanksgiving week, I’ve come up with my “Top 3” that I am most thankful for:
1. The Pursuit of Christ
I love how Jesus never stops pursuing after me.
When I was being recruited by my first employer out of grad school, I remember the recruiters sending me gifts, taking me out for nice dinners, and calling me regularly to make sure that I was doing well. But once I signed on the dotted line, everything stopped. The company moved on to its next recruit and stopped pursuing me.
To the men reading this, we can definitely relate. As a member of the male community, I know how easy it is to pursue after a goal and once obtaining it, turning my attention to something new. Men are notorious for conquering and moving on, for we are (in general) a “check-off-the-list” species. But thank God that He doesn’t operate like that.
Jesus Christ pursued me before my conversion and has never stopped since that time. In His love, he pursues after my heart every day, even when I don’t necessarily reciprocate. His unconditional love is so amazing because it is expressed so differently from that of the world.
2. Finding Myself Fully in Christ
CS Lewis said that we, as Christians, only truly find ourselves in Christ. When I first read this in Mere Christianity, I wrestled with this for a long time. But recently, I unexpectedly discovered the riches of what Lewis was saying in the following verse:
“In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence” (Ephesians 3:12).
We live in a world where we are confined by certain social and professional boundaries. When I’m at work, there are certain professional expectations that must be adhered to. When out in public, there are social confines and pressures dictating behavior. But what an amazing thing it is when one can be completely “free and confident,” or in other words, “being true to oneself.”
In my relationship with Christ, it is a wonderful thing that I can come to Him in complete freedom and confidence, not having to worry about judgment or condemnation.
A brother once told me that his greatest fear was public humiliation. When in a public setting, he did everything that he could to avoid being shamed. Praise God that when we dine at the table with our King, we never have to worry about this. We can be ourselves – completely free and confident!
3. The Perfect Gifts From God
God is a generous giver. Often, I limit God by thinking that I need this or that specific gift, only to be stunned later when He gives me something that exceeds expectation. I sometimes forget who is giving the gifts: an all loving, generous God.
“If you, then, know you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:11).
He always seems to amaze me with the gifts that He gives.
So this Thanksgiving, my Top 10 gifts from God that I am thankful for:
1. An unbelievable family
2. Crazy, amazing, caring friends
3. HMCC
4. Spiritual mentors
5. My Small group: The Night Life
6. The Transformasphere Movement
7. People from different cultures
8. My family at the William Davidson Institute
9. Coffee – Black
10. Those hidden tracks in life. Like when you get to the end of an amazing CD and there is one more unexpected song that touches the heart, but you never would have discovered it unless you had patiently waited until the end.