This Christmas has been so different for me. God keeps opening my eyes to so many different things about this holiday, Jesus' birthday. This morning I was reading John 14:1-4 and I like the way The Message Bible puts it:
"Don't let this throw you. You trust God, don't you? Trust me. There is plenty of room for you in my Father's home. If that weren't so, would I have told you that I'm on my way to get a room ready for you? And if I'm on my way to get your room ready, I'll come back and get you so you can live where I live. And you already know the road I'm taking."
"There is plenty of room for you in my Father's home." What a wonderful realization, that we, as Christians, have the ultimate Christmas party to go to one day, when we go Home! And we know this promise to be true, because above all else, God is faithful! He can't not be. Its who He is.
I've been on my knees a lot over the past few weeks for those folks who can't be "home" for the holidays. Its just something we take for granted, whether its just down the street, across the pasture, the next state over or a short plane ride, we always seem to be able to make it home for Christmas. What about the soldier fighting for that very freedom we enjoy? What about the missionary telling others of the freedom they can have in Christ? What about the single mom who has to leave her kids Christmas morning because she has to work? What about that homeless man that I passed on the highway yesterday? Does he have anyplace he can go to and call "home"?
I don't know about you, but I do tend to live in my own little world, in my bubble of belief that everyone has a nice warm home to go to and a comfortable bed to sleep in and a warm meal on their table (or at least a restaurant to go out to eat). The hard truth is, the majority of the world's population doesn't have those things. And believe me when I say, I'm not condemning us for having those things, I really enjoy those things! Its just God is making me so much more aware of the fact how grateful I need to be.
A couple of our college girls and I went around town the other day looking for ways God smiles on us during this time of year, it was nothing big. It was the little things. Christmas trees for sale. A cup of coffee. A sign that read "Jesus loves me, this I know". A stack of Christmas cards. A child's Christmas craft. An amazing sunset over a small lake. Those little things that we sometimes just overlook or take for granted, but oh when we really look, its those little things that make our hearts really smile!
And even last night, as I was in my car looking at a gorgeous moon and thanking God for the blessings of my life and praying for a few certain folks, God chose to smile at me through the radio! On a station that had been playing Christmas music for nearly two weeks straight, suddenly they played two songs that mean so very much to me in my life! Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas music, but I think God just wanted to give me an exclamation mark of His faithfulness!
I read from a blog the other day that "Christmas is not about going home, but about leaving home." How true that is and honestly, it was the first time I've ever really thought about that fact. It was that first Christmas morning that Jesus woke up and was not in His home anymore, but in ours. He left all the glory of Heaven to come here, to a world that would, and still does, reject Him, mock Him, and make fun of Him. Would you want to be somewhere like that for Christmas? Yet, He did because of John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
He came and endured living in the dysfunctional world of ours we call "home" so that, if we believe in Him, we could one day really go Home for the Holidays! And oh my! What a glorious Christmas that first Christmas in Heaven will be when we are all around the throne of God! Eating at His table! Bestowing our gifts of praise to the Ultimate Christmas Gift!!
Faithful Christmas 2010, that is how I will remember these few weeks. He has been, is, and always will be! Faithful!
No comments:
Post a Comment