Thanksgiving - digg this
We covered a good chunk of 1Timothy 4 tonight in leadership training. What stuck out most to me was the first five verses.
1The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. 2Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. 3They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. 4For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, 5because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.
We talked a bit about hyper-religiosity and how that can come from demonic influences. Vs. 3 talks about asceticism and I think that this is more than just abstaining from meat or marriage. Being more "religious" is not necessarily a good thing. Seeking some sort of false holiness from avoiding things that are in and of themselves good is contrary to what God would have for us. We need to be thankful for wonderful food, our families, friendship, spouses, the weather, every good thing that God made. Any religion/group that asks you to cut yourself off from these sort of things needs to be examined closely (especially ones that are anti-coffee).
So what are you recieving with thanksgiving this year?
If you enjoyed this entry subscribe to this blog by email or feed reader
Total Number of Comments: 3
I, for one, am thankful for your blog - and the coffee remark!
*slurp*
You're too kind!
Wow, what's not to be thankful for?!? I thankful that I'm privileged enough to worry more about the next election than my next meal. I'm thankful that I continue to be close to my family (emotionally, at least). I'm thankful that the best woman in the world still puts up with me. I'm grateful that I get to be stressed about which luxury I'm going to save for next. I'm thankful that I get to worry about what diseases I'll get when I'm old and not the diseases I have. That's just the tip of the iceberg.