Contentment

There are few things more wonderful than sitting in a quiet living room warmed by a fire, with the smells of a roasting turkey filling the home. I love Thanksgiving. I love the food, the peacefulness, the scents, and the traditions. I cleaned the house on Thanksgiving morning, rearranged the furniture in preparation for the Christmas tree -- which I always put up the weekend after Thanksgiving -- and then sat in front of the fire and smelled the luscious scents of our dinner. In a labor of love, I cooked the disgusting giblets for the dogs. (If you have never cut up raw turkey liver and hearts, you have not experienced YUCK to its fullest degree.)

Today, my hubby and daughter and I are heading to the mountains to ski for a day. We will pack turkey sandwiches for lunch! Life is good. I am thankful. I read a long essay about the first Thanksgiving and was convicted anew of how gently and graciously God has dealt with us. We wander so far from Him, find satisfaction in so many meaningless substitutes, and all the while, He waits for us to notice that our hearts are empty unless He fills them.

I read a very ironic section in 2 Chronicles 25. The king of Israel at that time, Amaziah, kills Israel's enemies and plunders them. Get this...he brings back the idols, the gods that the people he just annihilated had worshiped. And he bows down to them! God is notably unimpressed by the daftness of His people. He brings this to the attention of Amaziah. Does Amaziah really think it it is wise to worship the gods of the people he has just defeated in battle through the power of  the God of Israel? I am not sure Amaziah catches the irony.

But goodness, we all do this! God, the creator of the universe who holds every molecule of existance in His hand could destroy us in a nanosecond...yet we ignore him, continue in our sin, disregard not only His commands but even His existance. We exchange the gods of this world for the only true God, and wonder why blessings do not flow. If I were God, I would step on us and squash us. The fact that He does not fills my heart with Thanksgiving. 

I will try to keep that thought near as I stand on the mountain top, and prepare to hurl down the magnificent snowy slope created and formed by the hand of God. I will praise not the beautiful mountain, but the One who gave me the beautiful mountain.

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2 Chronicles 25:14-15 NIV
[14] When Amaziah returned from slaughtering the Edomites, he brought back the gods of the people of Seir. He set them up as his own gods, bowed down to them and burned sacrifices to them. [15] The anger of the Lord burned against Amaziah, and he sent a prophet to him, who said, “Why do you consult this people’s gods, which could not save their own people from your hand?”