Proverbs 6:6-11 (MSG)
6-11 You lazy fool, look at an ant. Watch it closely; let it teach you a thing or two.
Nobody has to tell it what to do. All summer it stores up food; at harvest it stockpiles provisions. So how long are you going to laze around doing nothing? How long before you get out of bed? A nap here, a nap there, a day off here, a day off there, sit back, take it easy—do you know what comes next? Just this: You can look forward to a dirt-poor life, poverty your permanent houseguest!

John 6:27 (ESV)
27 “…Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.”

Deuteronomy 31:6 (ESV)
6 Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”

The apple pies are done – Jonathan, Cortland and Granny Smith mix. The pumpkins are cooking, ready to be strained and mixed, dumped into the pie shells and cooked next. It’s Thanksgiving and time to think about family, freedom, responsibility and courage.

Be strong and courageous. Lazy gets you what?

The pies will be gone and naps taken today. A day of rest, of family, of gratefulness – for some of us. Lots of us will be out in the cold, struggling with our demons, wondering where our family went, knowing that we might have driven them away, or maybe just been dealt a bad one. We have family here and one that never leaves us in heaven. We have freedom to move and choose. We have responsibility because there are consequences to our decisions whether we want it or not.

Time to be courageous, time to realize God has our back as long as we’re doing the right thing – even when we don’t think so. It’s time to go back to the basics of love that God has shown us. Tough love and tender love are all done out of love. Work and love our family, friends and strangers.

It’s time to pick up the pieces, pick up the leftovers of our decisions and work for the food that endures to eternal life. It’s time to work out of the love that is God.

My wifes mom passed yesterday. The pain for her is over and the blessings begin and never end. Our bodies become the shells they really are and our souls live forever. Mom, I pray your soul is with Dad and Mary.

It’s the choices we make here, the work we do here, that ensures our place with God for eternity. I’m very grateful to have that choice. Thank you God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit for the opportunity to live a life with earthly family, heavenly family, freedom to choose, responsibility to live our life courageously in the way you call us to, and for eternity in your presence.