By Rev. JAMES SCARBOROUGH

Donalsonville Assembly of God

Thanksgiving was a most blessed observance for Gale and me this year, as we had the opportunity to visit family in north Georgia. It has become increasingly difficult for all five of my parents’ children to visit with them at the same time, so it was a special and unusual occasion that we shared together this year. My mother worked really hard to prepare a wonderful Thanksgiving meal that we all enjoyed immensely.

Gale and I stayed at the same motel that we always use when we go up there to visit. In the past it has never failed to be clean and comfortable so we have had no reason to search for a different place to stay. However, we might have to rethink our loyalty to that particular establishment.

After a good night of rest in our rented room on Friday night, I got up on Saturday morning and started to make coffee in the motel coffee maker. The pot was not clear glass and I could not see inside it, but I noticed when I picked it up to put fresh brewing water in it that it felt a bit heavier than I expected. As I tilted it over the sink I discovered what the extra weight was-old coffee left by the previous occupants of the room! That caused my confidence in the hygiene of the place to drop quickly as I wondered what else might not have been cleaned before our arrival. I suspected that it was just one small oversight by housekeeping — that is, until I learned that our daughters staying in the room next door found leftover food in the refrigerator in their room!

Other than the little detail regarding the coffee pot and the refrigerator, everything appeared to be fine in the rooms. But those discoveries were enough to cause me to have doubts about other things, and it was enough to make me think twice before staying there again.

Included in the divine nature of God is His trustworthiness. If He demonstrated His trustworthiness only most of the time — and not all of the time — it would be impossible to entirely trust Him at anytime, but since He is always faithful and trustworthy we can trust Him absolutely in all circumstances. The Old Testament affirms God’s faithful trustworthiness with these words: “Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; He is the faithful God, keeping His covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep His commands” (Deuteronomy 7:9, New International Version).

As we enter into another Christmas season and remember the precious gift of God extended to us through Jesus Christ, our celebration can be all the more meaningful as we realize that we can fully trust God’s provision of eternal life that is available through Christ. We can rejoice that the spiritual cleansing that He offers us is able to make us pure and holy in the sight of God. We are told in 1 John 1:7, “But if we walk in the light, as He is the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son, purifies us from all sin.”

We do not have to be concerned about Christ forgetting to clean us up spiritually when we turn our lives over to Him; He cleanses us completely and gives us eternal life. What a beautiful demonstration of his trustworthiness and faithfulness!