363 Days

“¹² Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;

¹³ Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.

¹⁴ And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness” ~ Colossians 3:12-14

363 days. This is typically the amount of days that adults get to choose who they are around. 363 days you can choose where you go, what you do, and really why you do it.

There are two days out of the calendar that many know, you are bound to be around a certain group of people. A certain group of people who you cannot choose.

Those days are Thanksgiving and Christmas. The certain people are family. You can’t choose family. Especially during the holidays. On these days, there are large gatherings of family and for some, this is a struggle. For some, the holidays are a practice session for the art and Biblical instruction of “bearing with one another.”

For those who dread the coming together of family, I do not have a magic message to fix the fears. But I can say, that gratitude and thanksgiving will go a long way.

For those who love to spend time with family over the holidays, as do I, just know that still, gratitude and thanksgiving will go a long way.

“In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:18

As a matter of fact, the key to forbearance is gratitude for the blessing of communion and fellowship. Read on a few verses in Colossians 3 and verse 17 indicates,  “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.”

Life is so precious and God gives it abundantly. Spiritually and physically, we have life that God intends for us to cherish. Gratefulness transcends past, present, and future and subdues frustration under the wonder of blessing.

We are entering a season of great holidays. Cherish those around you and seek the wonder of thanksgiving. After all, you can’t choose family.