Mission Thoughts at Thanksgiving

“Why should anyone go back to the table for second’s or third’s,
before everyone’s had a first helping?” —

Won’t anyone pass the food?

Imagine sitting down for a scrumptious Thanksgiving dinner with all of your relatives.

Everyone is eager to eat . . . but as you survey Grandma’s extra-long dining room table, complete with all the extension-pieces brought in from back of the entry closet, you can’t help but notice the lop-sided food layout. All of those delicious-smelling dishes are on the opposite end of the table.

After joining hands and thankin’ the Lord for His bounty, you wait patiently for one of those cousins to pass that basket of yummy-looking homemade rolls your direction . . . but for some reason, they don’t seem to hear you. In fact, it’s almost like you’re not at the table. It’s like no one can see you, or even hear you.

As the other side continues to heap their plates with second- and even third-helpings, everyone at your end is still waiting . . . and waiting . . . with empty plates.

No one’s trying to be mean, of course; it’s just that everybody is distracted. Grandpa’s stories are so hilarious this year; everyone’s laughing; and Aunt Polly’s turkey is more delicious than ever. The others begin to joke about their bulging stomachs . . . as yours continues to grumble with hunger.

Won’t anyone pass the food?

It’s a vivid picture we need to remember, of the need for world missions, and the need to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ . . . with the lost.

This month, as we sit down to thank God for His abundant blessings in our lives (both physically and spiritually), we need to remember that many people (over 1.6 BILLION) are still waiting . . . and waiting . . . for their first helping of the God’s Good News.

“Why should anyone hear the Gospel twice,
before everyone has heard it once?”
–Oswald J. Smith

Have a Blessed & Mission-Minded Thanksgiving!

With Love in His Harvest,
Jon & Ann Dunagan & Family