Voice of the Kingfisher speaks out …from a different perspective
by Elinor Montgomery
October 09, 2012
And how was your Thanksgiving? Was there any room for God in it, or was it all about shopping, sports and the things of this world? Did you remember Him when, after all the preparation, you sat down to a bountiful table? Did you, in fact, remember to thank Him for the food set before you, when the complete lack of it is resulting in thousands of deaths around the world on a regular basis? For many people around the world, Thanksgiving is just another day without any of the basic necessities of life, which we, in America, have taken for granted.
Have you ever thought about the fact that it was God who said, “Let there be light” in readiness to begin creation in perfection? He is the same God who gave you eyes to see and drink in all its beauty, visually. Everything man needed was provided for him, and nothing was left off the list. In just six days a holy God had created a kingdom worthy of its holy King.
He completed it with a holy people who were to value the life given to them enough that they would keep His commandment to eat only of the spiritual food, which would keep them alive and fruitful, bearing more sons and daughters for the Lord God and Creator. He did not ask for our gratitude; He even gave us the free will to obey Him or reject Him in rebellion to Him, whichever path we should choose; but the truth remains – He is the Creator and we are the created.
It was His world and His way, or no way. It was up to us whether or not we wanted light and sight or darkness and blindness. Under the circumstances, you might think that the first thing man would do, would be to fall on his knees in heart-felt gratitude to the Father of creation and worship Him in the Spirit of life, which was breathed into him to begin the breathing process of life.
Should man not have worshiped such a God who shared His life-giving Spirit with that which had been mere dust, molded and shaped into a form transforming it into His own image? He was given the opportunity to be a child of God’s own and to share in His house and His kingdom, like a partner of a marriage bed. He wanted a universe full of partnering human beings who would become the crowning glory of His creation.
God must have looked upon all His works of perfection on the seventh day with great satisfaction, and lovingly smiled on His partner; for He is a God of love, who anticipated love in return from His creation. Aren’t all marriages created in anticipation of the partners’ love and the fulfillment of their consummation, which results in fruitfulness?
Surely, this very first marriage would not end with a rebellious partner, who was given the world, even the universe, for his dowry! He had been given sight and every provision needed in a perfect Garden of pleasure. Would the bride of mankind reject such a benevolent Husband for one who offered pain, suffering and death, for what he claimed would make man like the Most High God?
But just a minute! Man was already created in the image of the Most High God. It was a blatant lie of the devil that the knowledge of evil, alongside of the good of creation, would make him like the Most High. He had been offered partnership with the Most High in ruler-ship over all things except over his fellow man. This was the place reserved for the Supreme Commander and God of creation. He merely wanted a submitted partner, not a prima donna. He was looking for a loving, obedient one, to whom He had given freedom to love from the heart and not from the head, so that the Lord God would become the desire of his heart.
Today, Americans follow in the incredibly foolish way of the first man, Adam, who showed no gratitude for what his Father had done for him in giving him the breath of life. Thanksgiving is celebrated back to back with Halloween, so that the two blend together with much more emphasis being placed on bowing to, and honoring, the power of evil rather than on giving gratitude to our God and Creator who is seeking those who will worship Him in spirit and in truth.
Because Adam chose the lie, we are the corrupt fruit of his union with Eve, having been conceived in a spirit of death. All fruit of the corrupted pair was doomed to die, had God, Himself, not come down into the playpen of humanity to set man free from his captivity to death. He made a conditional offer, not given according to man’s works, but according to His own work and man’s trust for salvation from death in His Son who came to take the sin of man’s rebellion upon His shoulders. He died in man’s place so that he could live again, eternally, with his Father, free at last of all the pain and suffering, which his own rebellion had brought upon himself.
Again, I ask you, “Were you able to find any time for God on this day of Thanksgiving, or did you choose the route of rebellion and reject Him for the things of the world? Did you ‘hit the shops’ for bargains and watch sports all day long, only to finish with a bountiful table, which you felt was your just due and not a gift from the God of love, of truth and of life?” He is the God of the way back to the kingdom for sons and daughters, otherwise lost and doomed to return to the dust, whence they came.
Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of evil. Avoid it, do not travel on it; turn away from it and pass on. For they do not sleep unless they have done evil; and their sleep is taken away unless they make someone fall. For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence. But the path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day. The way of the wicked is like darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble.
My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart; for they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh. Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life. Put away from you a deceitful mouth, and put perverse lips far from you. Let your eyes look straight ahead, and your eyelids look right before you. Ponder the path of your feet, and let all your ways be established. Do not turn to the right or the left; remove your foot from evil (Proverbs 4:14-27).
And in all things give thanks! Give unto the Lord the glory due to His name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness (Psalm 29:2).