Colossians 3:15 English Standard Version (ESV) And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.

As we approach this thanksgiving season there are many who intend to celebrate together with family. We are born into this world with one family and when we accept Jesus Christ into our hearts we are born again into a new family.

Natural birth is a learning experience, we know nothing and then learn by experience, little by little, year after year. Family dynamics are so complicated that we can only think of our own and cannot imagine what it must be like for others.

Being in Christ is different in that our first born is Jesus Christ. He is the first born of which we all model our lives together. He shows us where we belong in this new family. We discover who we are in Christ which is different from who we were in the world. Discovering who we are in Christ can be challenging because we have to leave that old life behind.

Are we thankful for this new life in Christ? We can get so busy with all that it entails that we might forget to be thankful for being called out of our old lives. We are encouraged to look forward and not look back. For some of us it is easy to turn our backs on a painful past. For some of us the past was full of pleasures which were self-indulgent and addictive. It might be a past that still has fond memories of the pleasures which mask the very reasons we sought to accept Christ.

We should celebrate this season with our families, old and new. We should be thankful for being called into this new life. Should doesn’t always mean that everyone does. Their peace may be disturbed.

Hebrews 4:13 English Standard Version (ESV) And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

We might understand that God sees our every fault but seeing them in ourselves can be more difficult. Transitional changes such as moving to a new state or finding a new church might offer an opportunity to discover we have flaws which need correction. We find ourselves to be more vulnerable in new situations, new surroundings. We do not have the fellowship of those who know us best and have covered our minor flaws with grace.

I say flaws because in practice they might not be considered sin. At what point will our discomfort start to be reflected in our speech? We can become irritable and that can lead to disappointment in others and suddenly we are not as gracious as we were in familiar fellowship. It might not be a sin to fail to be gracious in all situations. Because grace is an attribute of Christ and we are to be conformed into the likeness of Christ, loss of grace is undesirable.

Not everything that needs correction has to be labeled as sin. Perfection is not going to come until we are translated into our incorruptible form. That gap between corruption and perfection is wide and we move from one to the other in steps.

Exodus 20:26 English Standard Version (ESV) And you shall not go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness be not exposed on it.’

Whatever our condition is as we near His altar, we should know our faults and not allow them to stop us from approaching God. God has dealt with sin by the sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ. We have the problem and the only cure to our problem is found in coming to Him.

Lord help us.