The Thanksgiving holidays are only nine weeks away. Can you believe that? That means that Christmas holidays are just around the corner.  My, my, James was right when he wrote about life; “It is even as a vapor, that appears for a little time and then vanishes away” (James 4:14). Shouldn’t we always be thankful for the riches we enjoy as Christians?  We have so much for which to be thankful!  Take a look around you at home, at work, at school, when you meet with your brethren at St. Andrews Road, just about anywhere and everywhere you choose to look.    At home we have so many blessings -- our family, a house in which to live, clothes to wear, food, and happiness.   At work we have a job to do, people who help us and whom we help, income from our jobs that we use to live a good life.  At school we get to teach and/or learn.  We have friends.  We are challenged to grow in the skills that  will make our world better.    We are members  of the church of Christ at St. Andrews Road.   As a member of  the church, we enjoy a  loving Christian family.  We get to meet regularly to worship God in spirit and in truth.  We also get to study the Bible, God’s word. We get to learn about our past, our present, and our future from the Bible.  We read, study, and hear the Bible preached and taught.   We  obey what  we read,  study, and hear.   We learn about life and about death as we prepare for eternity. It is true that you and I make many sacrifices to have these rich blessings.  At the same time let us not forget that many of these blessings are ours because of the sacrifices of others. Our sins are forgiven and heaven is our home because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ our Savior. It breaks my heart to think of God, the Father, as He forsook His only begotten Son on the cross for you and for me.  Do you remember Jesus crying out, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?”   What a joy it is to have the invitation to come to Christ, believe in Him, repent of our sins, confess Christ as God’s Son, and be baptized in His name. We have the Bible.  Just think about the sacrifices men and women have made down through the ages of time to present God’s word to us in its integrity.  We, too, must be willing to sacrifice whatever it takes  to present  God’s  word  to our  children  and to  future  generations  without  addition  or subtraction.  The eternal destinies of those who follow us depend upon our sacrifice. We  have  beautiful  facilities  here at St. Andrews Road because  of the  physical and financial sacrifices of our brothers and sisters in Christ.  Let us show our appreciation by taking care of these blessings.    We  will  be called  upon in  the near  and distant  future to make  similar sacrifices for generations that will follow us. In the Bible we read about Jesus healing ten lepers (Luke 17:11-18).  Only one of those who were cleansed,  a Samaritan,  returned to give thanks to  Jesus and give glory to God.   Jesus asked the question, “Were there not ten cleansed?  But the nine – where are they?  Was no one found who turned back to give glory to God except this foreigner?” (17:17-18 NAS). The leper who returned to say “thank you” for his blessings can be our teacher today.  Let us open our  eyes to the many blessings  around us and be ready always to say “Thank you” to God first, then to others as we have the opportunity.