Once, Harold Kurtz, a missionary in the Presbyterian Church USA, spoke at our church. He told of going to Siberia, which is in the northern part of Russia. He visited a reindeer-herding people called the Nenets. There are about 30,000 in this people-group. Harold wondered how he could let those people know of the love of God and what Jesus Christ had done for them.

One day, he saw one of the men sacrifice a reindeer to their god. He found out that this was done on a regular basis. The missionary then thought of the following Scripture:

Hebrews 10:1-4,12 – Since the law has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered year after year, make perfect those who approach. Otherwise, would they not have ceased being offered, since the worshipers, cleansed once for all, would no longer have any consciousness of sin? But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sin year after year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, "he sat down at the right hand of God." (NRSV)

Harold told the people about Jesus Christ and how He gave His life — Jesus Christ was their reindeer. All the sacrifices that they had made were useless. There was only one sacrifice for sin, and that was made by Jesus Christ. Since Harold met with them, many of the Nenets have been turning to the Lord.

We also must remember that the blood of eight tiny reindeer or millions of animals will not pay our sin debt for us. Only Jesus Christ giving His life will do so if we turn to Him. Praise God, we don't have to do anything to appease God or to get Him to love us. God showed His love by sending His Son to live a human life, then to die on the cross: one sacrifice for sin.

At Christmastime, it is nice to remember the manger, but we have to leave there and remember that Jesus came to be our sacrifice. Then, we need to remember that He didn't just die but rose from the dead to sit at the right hand of God.

Prayer: Lord God, we thank You for sending Your Son as a Baby in a manger. But we thank You and praise You more for sending Him to be our sacrifice. In the name of Jesus Christ, Who lived and died for us, we pray. Amen.

Across from our house is a park that has a couple of ponds in it. When they built the park, they brought some ducks and geese to make their home around the ponds. Now there are not many ducks, but a lot of geese. They love to come into our yard to have lunch or supper. They like to eat our grass. They also love to eat the berries that fall off the dogwood trees, and they love the crabapples.

The geese will sit in a circle around the crabapple tree. Then one of them will get up, stretch his long neck, grab a limb and shake it so that more crabapples fall to the ground. Then they all get up and start eating. When they are all eaten, they will go back to the circle and wait for another goose to get up and grab another limb. The goose that shakes the limb won't get much to eat, but they do take their turns so that all can eat.

Paul wrote in today's Scripture passage that this is what we need to do as Christians. We should not forget about ourselves but do more for others. This goes further than what Jesus taught when He said, "Do to others as you would like them to do to you" (Luke 6:31 NLT). Paul is saying to do more for others than you would have them do for you.

Prayer: Our Provider, we praise You. We thank You for all Your many blessings. Please forgive us when we become selfish and don't think of others. Help us to follow the teachings of Your Son Jesus Christ to do to others as we would have them do to us. In Your holy name, we pray. Amen.

On a hot fall day, our high school marching band took part in the Apple Festival in Chilhowie, Virginia, USA. We marched in a parade, and then waited around for our time to compete in the field competition. After that parade, I was hot and thirsty. I went to a vendor who had cans of soft drinks. The one I bought was good and cold, but it did not quench my thirst. Then I saw a vendor who had bottles of ice-cold apple cider. I bought one of those, and that hit the spot.

We are created with a spiritual thirst, but most people don't know what will quench that thirst. We may try different things, activities, or relationships, but they don't quench it completely. Disappointed, we go on to something else which we think might fill that need in us. But Jesus Christ is the only one who can really quench our spiritual thirst.

There is a cost to what we think will quench our thirst: possessions, adventures, relationships. But what will quench our spiritual thirst is free: the cost is not ours to pay. To quench this thirst cost Jesus Christ His life. He gave His life so we could be filled without cost.

Matthew 5:6 – Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. (NASB)

Let us all partake of Jesus Christ to quench our spiritual thirst. And let us share Him with others so they may know what will truly quench their thirst.

Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, we thank You for giving Your life for us. Thank You for offering Yourself to quench our thirst. Help us to continually drink from Your supply. Help us to let others know that You are the only One who can quench their thirst. Amen.

There is a tree not far from the covered patio behind my parents' house. For years, my mother has taken bread and other food, torn it into small pieces, and thrown it out off the patio. In the morning, there is a blue jay that is sitting in that tree, watching for her to come outside and throw out the food. He then squawks and lets all the other birds know that breakfast has been served. Then birds of different sizes and colours come to see what has been served for breakfast.

Today's Scripture is from a parable Jesus told about a king who was planning a wedding feast for his son. He sent his servants out to invite several groups of people to it, but most of them turned him down, having what they thought were important things to do. So the man told the servants to go out and invite everyone else to the feast.

At the end of the age, God, the High King, will put on a great wedding feast which will be in honour of His Son, Jesus Christ. It is up to us, as His servants, to invite everyone to the feast. We cannot invite just those we think might accept the invitation, but give all a chance of partaking of that great feast.

Let us all be like the blue jay. Let us say — loud and strong: "The feast is prepared! Come to the feast!"

Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, we thank You for the feast that is being prepared for us. Help us to let everyone know that the feast is prepared and that all are invited. In Your name, we pray. Amen.

Just like we were fooled by the plastic bag, we can also be fooled by people who preach or teach. We need to make sure that the people we listen to are telling us the truth of God. We need to do what the Bereans did:

Acts 17:11 – These people were more receptive than those in Thessalonica. They were very willing to receive the message, and every day they carefully examined the Scriptures to see if those things were so. (ISV)

We also need to do what the apostle John tells us to do in his first epistle:

1 John 4:1-3 – Dear friends, stop believing every spirit. Instead, test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize God's Spirit: Every spirit who acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. But every spirit who does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist. You have heard that he is coming, and now he is already in the world. (ISV)

So we should not take everything we see and hear at face value. We need to check it out for ourselves. What we think is a white cat may just be a white plastic bag!

Thought: Let us study the Scriptures daily so we won't be led astray.

Prayer: Father, thank You for sending Your messengers to us. Help us to know the Scriptures and to know who Your true messengers are. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.

When we think of gifts for women, we probably think of flowers, candy, etc. But what about a hand plough? Or maybe a wheelbarrow? I know a woman who got these last two as gifts. A hand plough as a gift for a woman?

God gives Christians various gifts. Some may be just what we expected, but others may be as unexpected as the hand plough that the woman received. Today's Scripture verses tell of some of the spiritual gifts God gives to His people. All of them are gifts for Him to use through us. In other words, they are tools in His hands. We can probably figure out what our talents are, and we may think that those are our gifts, but God may have more gifts than these in store for each of us. They may be gifts for Him to use — gifts which we might rather not make available for Him. We may not even see how these gifts can be used through us.

One company makes a variety of outdoor tools, like hedge trimmers, that all use the same battery. What if someone received all of the tools available, but noticed that the battery was not included? There is no way that these tools could be used. In the same way, when we try — in our own power — to use the gifts that God gives us, the work will be harder or impossible — the "battery" is missing. But God promises to provide the power — the Holy Spirit — so that the gifts are not powered by us but by the Holy Spirit.

Thought: Let us accept every gift God has for us, knowing He is in control and will supply what we need for His use.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us when we don't accept all the gifts You give us. Thank You for the gift of the Holy Spirit, who provides the power we need to do Your will. Amen.

I read about Mike May, who lost his sight when he was three years old. Forty years later, medical technology had created a way, through surgery, for him to see. Even though his eye turned out perfectly, his brain could not always recognize what he was looking at.

One day, while walking down the sidewalk in a city, he noticed something there. It took him a little while, but he finally figured out that it was a homeless person. Of course, he had heard of homeless people, but while walking downtown, his guide dog had always led him around them. The day he first saw this homeless person, he was really bothered.

In today's teaching from Matthew 25, Jesus is talking about separating the sheep from the goats, based on their actions. Both groups said they did not see Jesus when he was hungry, thirsty, etc. Jesus did not mean that they saw Him in those conditions personally but that those who help those who are in those conditions are doing what is done for Him.

As we go through our day, do we try not to see those who are hungry, thirsty, sick, etc.? Do we say we don't see them because we don't want to be bothered? Are we afraid that if we really did notice them, it would bother us like it did Mike May?

Thought: Let us look to see those who need our help.

Prayer: Lord, please forgive us when we avoid seeing those who need our help. Forgive us for our selfishness. Help us to see those we can help and to be willing to do what is needed. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.