I think back to all the groans I got at work when I announced that it was only 6 more months until Christmas, then 5 then 4 then 3..2..1 and here we are!
Fresh snow on the ground, kid’s home from college, sitting in front of the fireplace channel (gotta love satellite) Christmas music floating through the house (again satellite)……
It’s been sooo busy, it’s getting increasingly hard to take the time to reflect on why we do this. Why are we celebrating? Of course a quick look at Luke chapter 2 tells the story. We celebrate because God chose to give us the greatest gift of all. Forgiveness through His Son Jesus Christ. Forgiveness so that we can again have a personal relationship with Him. A personal relationship with GOD! Think about that for a second. This is God we’re talking about here. You know, the Creator of all things…..ALL things! Earth, moon, sun…..universe and everything in it.
Pure and Holy and His Word says He wants to have a relationship with us…
We who continue to screw up even when we have the best of intentions. He still wants to have a relationship.
Of course there are those that would say there is no God. There couldn’t be. Not with all the hurt in the world. Not with all the hunger and strife. That of course is the lie those that were thrown out of heaven would have us believe.
The way I understand it, we could’ve been living in a world where there was no hunger or strife. But nooooo, there was that whole apple thing. Apple meaning disobedience. All we had to do was leave that tree alone. Was that asking too much? We couldn’t resist. This again was God asking…
So enter pain, hunger, strive, greed all the stuff we could have avoided. So why am I affected for something someone else did? Good question. One I don’t have an answer to. It just is. The good news is that in His mercy, God gave us a way back through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus.
I believe He gives us choices and our choices have consequences, not just for us but perhaps for others as well. Future generations are affected by our greed or generosity.
God didn’t create us to be puppets to be controlled. What’s the value in having a relationship with someone that has no choice? So the choice is, after we pass from this world, would you rather have an eternity back in the Garden or someplace where God is not present. Where there are no more ways back. No chance of parole.
I think I’ll choose to stick with God. All He’s asking of me is to accept the forgiveness given to me by His Son. After that, it’s to follow Christ’s example of serving others. My motivation for doing that is by understanding the grace that has been extended to me.
And therein lies the answer to the hunger and strife. It’s our choice. Do we help or sit back and watch the mess we’ve made.
Imagine if you will, everyone helping out everyone. What kind of world would that be?
All He’s asking us to do is stay away from the tree….what’s your tree? What’s the obstacle keeping you from having this relationship at the max. We all have one. I would encourage us all to figure it out and work at it. So that we can all have the Merriest of Christmas Seasons…for the right reasons…