Christmas

There are several modern-day Gnostics who, in the name of Christ, seek to dissuade us from celebrating the birth of Jesus each December. They go to great lengths to enlighten us regarding the pagan associations of the winter solstice, the worship of Druid gods, and idolatry related to evergreen trees. They chide us, saying we are somehow playing into Satan’s insidious scheme by honoring the birth of Christ with our Christmas traditions. Don’t believe it. This old “guilt-by-association” argument condemning our celebrations of Christ must be examined from a biblical perspective (See Rom.14:1-6; 1Cor.5:9-10; 1Cor.8:4-6; 1Cor.10:25-30). To condemn our Christ-honoring praise for the incarnation each December because of some ancient pagan associations is as ludicrous as disallowing Sunday worship because “Sunday” was initially designated for the worship of “Sol” the Sun god. Historically Christians have rightly redeemed certain days, words and places for the worship of Jesus Christ. As Paul wrote when facing the critics in Corinth “Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience, for ‘The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it’” (1Cor.10:25-26). So let us utilize all we can to bring glory, honor and praise to God for the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

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Christmas Giving

The relationship of Christmas with gift-giving may be bemoaned by many, but the connection is a biblical one. I am not referring to the crazed run through the mall in late December or the White Elephant gift exchange at the office party, but the concept of generously and freely giving gifts because God gave us his Son to redeem us; this is the association that cannot and should not be avoided. The Bible says that our love for each other, and thus our love for God can be measured, at least in part, by our generosity and the willingness with which we give tangible gifts to one another (see 1 John 3:16-17). Being the targets of God’s love necessarily implants a desire to be the kind of person who meets the needs of others. Knowing what it is to be loved by God is an experience that the Bible says should drive us to give as freely as we have received. A redeemed heart will find increasing satisfaction in reaching out, even at great personal cost, to enrich and enhance the lives of others through the giving of time, talent and resources. So while the world may be giving gifts for all the wrong reasons (and complaining about it a good part of the time) we can piggy-back on this “gift-giving season” and give to help, benefit and encourage as a reflection of Christ and for the glory of God.

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Worship Always

The suffering of Job was intense. To bury all of your children after a catastrophic storm is doubtless a devastating pain that would cause many to shake their fist at God. Instead, as you know, Job did not. He did take on the ancient near-Eastern sign of a person in severe emotional pain (“he tore his robe and shaved his head”), but in a spectacular demonstration of true perspective, Job “fell to the ground and worshipped” (Job 1:20). He knew to think, much like Peter when Jesus asked him if he wanted to leave him, “Lord, to whom shall we go?” (Jn.6:67-68). He knew that it was God who was in control and while he brought pain, he was really the only One who could bring comfort (Lam.3:32). More than that, Job’s high view of God’s sovereignty led him to gratefully credit God with the gift of his children in the hour God had taken them away – “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away” (Job 1:21b). Job, in his dark hour of loss, had no sense of entitlement. He understood the gifts of God’s grace and was able to say as one undeserving of them, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart” (Job 1:21a). In a day when most of us have bought Satan’s lie that we are somehow entitled to the “good life,” we can learn from the first twenty-two verses of the book of Job that when, for whatever reason, God chooses to revoke, withhold or postpone his generous gifts, we can still worship him as a good God who never does wrong. May it be that in any and every circumstance we can say with Job, “May the name of the Lord be praised” (Job 1:21c).

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Joyful Thanksgiving

Psalm 96 calls us to “Sing to the Lord” (Ps.96:1a). Regardless of our present pains or disappointments, the Bible assumes that if we are recipients of his grace and mercy, we have a lot to sing about. And the focus should not only be historical (i.e. what God did for us in years past), but our attention should also be on God’s merciful involvement which is observed to be “new every morning” (Lam.3:23). That is why the psalmist calls us to sing to him “a new song” (Ps.96:1b). The “newness” in view is not the modernity of the melody (necessarily), but it clearly has to do with the recent awareness of God’s “marvelous deeds” and manifestations of his “glory” among his people and in our lives (Ps.96:3). We could consume all of our time and attention focusing on the difficulties of the Christian life, but the Bible says that would be a mistake. Because God “is great” and “most worthy of praise” (Ps.96:4), there are many good and awesome things of which we should take note, and then, in obedience to God’s word, we must turn our hearts and our voices to him in joyful song. Psalm 96 ends as we might expect, looking forward to the day when God makes everything right (Ps.96:13), but in the meantime we should never fail to find the “right” that he is doing right now and celebrate it with glad and sincere hearts.

For more devotionals sermons and resources go to http://www.focalpointministries.org/