The Parrot
A young man named John received a parrot as a gift. The parrot had a bad attitude and an even worse vocabulary. Every word out of the bird's mouth was rude, obnoxious and laced with profanity. John tried and tried to change the bird's attitude by consistently saying only polite words, playing soft music and anything else he could think of to "clean up" the bird's vocabulary. Finally, John was fed up and he yelled at the parrot. The parrot yelled back. John shook the parrot and the parrot got angrier and even ruder. John, in desperation, threw up his hand, grabbed the bird and put him in the freezer. For a few minutes the parrot squawked and kicked and screamed. Then suddenly there was total quiet. Not a peep was heard for over a minute. Fearing that he'd hurt the parrot, John quickly opened the door to the freezer. The parrot calmly stepped out onto John's outstretched arms and said: "I believe I may have offended you with my rude language and actions. I'm sincerely remorseful for my inappropriate transgressions and I fully intend to do everything I can to correct my rude and unforgivable behavior." John was stunned at the change in the bird's attitude. As he was about to ask the parrot what had made such a dramatic change in his behavior, the bird continued, "May I ask what the turkey did?"
As a Christian, maybe you are living a lie...
Do you kick and scream at people who cut you off in traffic?
Do you use language that is not pleasing to God?
Are you living with hate in your life?
Are you rude to your neighbors?
Do you find that you are just going through life as a "shadow" of what a Christian should be?
There will come a time when you will be judged. You will either be judged for all of the sins you have committed and will be sent to Hell, or
you will be facing God and your works will be used to base your rewards on your eternal salvation. Are you searching and reaching for righteousness?
Are you doing your best to be obedient to His Word?
Have you repented of your sins?
What excuse have you made for not repenting of your sins? See, when you live in your sins, you are missing something in your relationship with God. When you live in your sins, you are living a life that is in direct "disobedience" to God! That is DIRECT DISOBEDIENCE TO GOD!! I hope and pray that you understand that. When you choose to live in a way that is contrary to God's Word, then you have chosen "whom you will serve!" The one "who believes not" is the one who is disobedient to God's Word and is also the one who will end up in Hell. The person who "believes" is one who trust in Jesus and puts his whole faith and trust in Him.
The Gift of Thanksgiving is given to those who are saved. We are to be thankful that God sent his Son to die on the cross for our sins (we have broken His Commands!). We must expect our pastor's to preach the True Word of God line by line and word by word. Be thankful if you have such an expository preacher. Be thankful that God has shown you the way to salvation (through Jesus Christ alone!).
You show your thankfulness each time you get out and speak to people about Jesus to show them their sinfulness in God's eyes. Do what you can to reach the lost for His sake!
Here is a clip of my sermon at the revival I held back in October. I hope it blesses you all on the wonderful day in the Lord!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
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