Monday, December 9, 2019

Pre-Christmas Thoughts

It has been several weeks since I have posted on the blog. It has been one of those months in which one situation after another seemed to take over my schedule and my time. It seemed that "tomorrow" never arrived although I was faithfully waiting day after day for tomorrow. Have you ever endured days like that? I am sure that each of us have encountered those moments in which we kept waiting for tomorrow to arrive. Tomorrow seems to hide in our yesterdays and we become so busy that today vanishes before we know what has happened. I would like to share a portion of a recent letter that I shared with our church family.

The Spirit has been challenging my heart as we move toward the celebration of Christmas. These following thoughts are not meant to dampen our excitement, enthusiasm or joy concerning Christmas. BUT I do believe that each of us face the daily challenge to keep the “main thing” the “main thing.” What is the main statement that the celebration of Christmas makes to us? It is the birth of Christ, the Savior of the world. The crush of the present culture causes us to fight for the moments in which we rest in the hope of the events that took place in and around Bethlehem.

This following scripture is taken from the message of Jesus concerning the parable of the farmer sowing seeds. He uses this parable to remind believers of their various responses. You can find the full story in Luke 8. This passage today is taken from the NLT. Luke 8:14,The seeds that fell among the thorns represent those who hear the message, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the cares and riches and pleasures of this life. And so they never grow into maturity.”

Each of us understands the fact that we face a battle with the cares, riches and pleasures of life. Most of us remove the challenge of riches from our conversation because we think that we are not rich when compared to some of the “wealthy” people of our nation and world. YET, we are considered rich when compared to the majority of people who live in our world in poverty. We have to be careful that the cares of life do not overwhelm us in such a manner that we lose sight of the message that God is sharing with us through the revelation of Christmas.

I just want to remind us to not let the busyness of life and the weight of this world to move us away from the life changing message of Christmas. The source of our hope, joy, peace, Salvation as well all of the other needs that we will encounter was born in the manger in Bethlehem. It is no wonder that the Heavens were full of angels offering praise to God. Luke 2:13-14,Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”
WOW!!! We cannot afford to forget the awesome as well as life-changing message of Christmas. We must remember that the birth of Christ was the beginning of the “open door” of fellowship with our Heavenly Father. The birth of Christ provided the entry point of the Savior who would ultimately offer His life on Calvary as a SACRIFICE FOR OUR SINS! We cannot afford to forget that message or allow that message to grow stale or grow unproductive in our lives. The Truth of Christmas would bring change to the world of that day and it is still bringing change to our present day world. The message of Christmas will still bring change to us today IF WE WILL TAKE THE TIME TO LISTEN!!

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