Are you prepared?
Rev. Bill Secrest, Lebo Baptist Church
Friday, November 16, 2007
There is a certain anticipation that grows in all of us as we enter this holiday season. One thing that I am personally reminded of is the fact that the holiday season grows on all of us in a physical way.
Those of us in need of losing weight, and that includes me, see the holiday season as an opportunity for eating foods that we normally don’t eat. I have to confess that I don’t always eat the healthiest food and I have to prepare myself for the actions that I will have to take when the holiday season is over. I will have to begin some serious changes in my diet and I will have to intentionally exercise.
If I don’t take these steps, my health will be in trouble somewhere down the road. Will I be prepared to do what is necessary? Only time will tell.
I share that private part of my own life because the holiday season has lost some of the celebration and joy that is supposed to go with it. This time of year is not about how much money we spend at retail stores for Christmas.
This time of year is to be spent thanking God for our many blessings. Unfortunately, we spend too much time complaining about what we don’t have instead of realizing how much we already have in our possession. My greatest prayer is that this holiday season would be seen as a time for all of us to dedicate our lives to following God and his purposes.
We don’t thank God enough for what we already have in our lives. My next prayer for this season is that we would place God at the center of it again. I, like many other pastors, compete with the culture as we attempt to focus our churches on the real reason for the holidays.
How many of our kids are taught today that the first Thanksgiving experience was about the pilgrims thanking the Native Americans for their help. Althtough that is part of the story, the main part is that the pilgrims were thanking God for his hand in their survival.
Believe it or not, God will use other people to get to us sometimes. Christmas has become less about the birth of Jesus and more about how many presents I am going to receive this year.
I had a nephew one Christmas keep whining for more presents and as soon as he would open the present in front of him, he would ask for another one. His joy was not found in what he received but in how many gifts he would get to open.
There are adults who live this way as well. I am amazed at how many people come through the holiday season and then get depressed. When the euphoria is over they have nothing left to hold onto because the parties are all over. Everyone goes back to living their lives the way they did before the holidays.
Jesus has an answer for those people who deal with these kinds of situations.
In John 6:35 Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
In Jesus’ day all the people could worry about was having enough to eat and drink. However, we must remember that Jesus was talking about being spiritually fed. Accepting Jesus Christ does not end the problems in your life but it does give you the hope to deal with them.
Make Jesus the Lord of your life this holiday season.
infinicat (anonymous) says...
I agree with Rev. Secrest that the holiday season has lost its real significance in the orgy of consumerism that takes place. Christmas, though intimately connected to our bodies, even the celestial one we live on, is primarily spiritual, not material.
Jesus' real birthday seems to have been in the Fall. It was celebrated by some early Christians in January and by others in May. Many other earlier deities were also born on Dec. 25, including Dyonisus, Attis, Mithra, and several others. Jesus' birthday was moved to this date.
As everyone knows in an agricultural community, the days get shorter and often gloomier until Dec 21st. By the 25th, it becomes obvious that they are once again lengthening, and warmer days lie ahead.
Christmas is about the end of a year, a time for making peace with what has transpired, or make things right, and to take stock of what we've done and left undone; our sins, good works and more. It is also about rebirth. As one year ends, the next begins, and the world is born anew. Spiritually, we can see this as a metaphor for our own rebirth, God giving us the priceless gift of life and another chance for salvation.
As you meander through the gaily decorated malls and stores this season, credit cards heating up from repeated passes, remember the real gifts of the season cannot be bought, wrapped, or opened up. They, like so many miracles, are unfolding before our very eyes every day.
Infinicat
November 17, 2007 at 7:33 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )