Steve Lambert
12-02-2007, 08:40 AM
I posted over on the prayer place for Sue in MN whose husband believed that Christmas was evil. I've shared my thoughts about this in the past, but I thought perhaps it would be an encouragement to some if I were to share here as well.
The enemy is a liar and a thief. The truth is not in him. He has never created anything new or original in his life. Everything he has ever come up with has been the result of a theft. He has stolen our hope, he has stolen our joy and he has even stolen our celebrations.
We have not stolen a pagan celebration of the winter solstice. Rather the enemy has stolen the Hope of every generation. He has stolen the Light of the world. He has stolen the Joy of our salvation and he has stolen the Promise of peace on earth-- good will toward men.
God in heaven is The Creator. Every act of creativity is born of His endless creativity. When we have a moment of creativity- it's because WE ourselves were created in His image; it's just a little speck of His creativity coming to life through us.
Celebrations were His idea. Feasts were His idea. Rejoicing and thanksgiving were His ideas. The enemy seeks to steal those ideas because the enemy has no creativity resident within him.
In EVERYTHING we do we have a choice. When we make a bank deposit- we can celebrate our cleverness and our insulation against hunger and need- or we can celebrate God's faithfulness and provision.
When we eat a meal we can celebrate our victory at the top of the food chain over those poor souls who live in poverty and are perishing from hunger- or we can celebrate the Lord's mercy and compassion that he has blessed us with nourishment again today.
When we give someone a gift of any kind we can celebrate our own resourcefulness, our beneficence and our extravagant generosity- or we can celebrate that all that we have is a gift from the Lord and we are eager to give freely to bless others because we have been so generously blessed.
And of course in celebrating Christmas, we can either celebrate the winter solstice and commemorate the pagans who have celebrated before us- or we can choose to celebrate the unmerited, unparalleled and scandalous grace of a God who would take the form of flesh and choose to be born in a lowly manger to save us from our sins... just as more than a billion other Christians have celebrated Christmas in the generations before us.
WE determine the meaning of our own actions. A string of lights is inherently neither good nor evil. It is either sanctified, or profane, depdning on our purpose and our intent. The same could be said of a gift given on December 25th, a brightly decorated tree in our living room or a candlelit dinner with family and friends. None of these things are either good or evil apart from our intentions.
I pray that your Christmas lights will shine brightly- NOT with any pagan celebration as those who have no hope- but with the brightness of dozens of generations who have held high the hope of Jesus... the Light of the world!
And I pray that every gift you give, every meal you share, every carol you sing and every tradition you create with your famly will reflect the goodness and the creativity which is our Creator- our Heavenly Father.
May you and those you love be blessed during this wonderful season as we celebrate the birth of a Savior.
Blessings,
Steve
The enemy is a liar and a thief. The truth is not in him. He has never created anything new or original in his life. Everything he has ever come up with has been the result of a theft. He has stolen our hope, he has stolen our joy and he has even stolen our celebrations.
We have not stolen a pagan celebration of the winter solstice. Rather the enemy has stolen the Hope of every generation. He has stolen the Light of the world. He has stolen the Joy of our salvation and he has stolen the Promise of peace on earth-- good will toward men.
God in heaven is The Creator. Every act of creativity is born of His endless creativity. When we have a moment of creativity- it's because WE ourselves were created in His image; it's just a little speck of His creativity coming to life through us.
Celebrations were His idea. Feasts were His idea. Rejoicing and thanksgiving were His ideas. The enemy seeks to steal those ideas because the enemy has no creativity resident within him.
In EVERYTHING we do we have a choice. When we make a bank deposit- we can celebrate our cleverness and our insulation against hunger and need- or we can celebrate God's faithfulness and provision.
When we eat a meal we can celebrate our victory at the top of the food chain over those poor souls who live in poverty and are perishing from hunger- or we can celebrate the Lord's mercy and compassion that he has blessed us with nourishment again today.
When we give someone a gift of any kind we can celebrate our own resourcefulness, our beneficence and our extravagant generosity- or we can celebrate that all that we have is a gift from the Lord and we are eager to give freely to bless others because we have been so generously blessed.
And of course in celebrating Christmas, we can either celebrate the winter solstice and commemorate the pagans who have celebrated before us- or we can choose to celebrate the unmerited, unparalleled and scandalous grace of a God who would take the form of flesh and choose to be born in a lowly manger to save us from our sins... just as more than a billion other Christians have celebrated Christmas in the generations before us.
WE determine the meaning of our own actions. A string of lights is inherently neither good nor evil. It is either sanctified, or profane, depdning on our purpose and our intent. The same could be said of a gift given on December 25th, a brightly decorated tree in our living room or a candlelit dinner with family and friends. None of these things are either good or evil apart from our intentions.
I pray that your Christmas lights will shine brightly- NOT with any pagan celebration as those who have no hope- but with the brightness of dozens of generations who have held high the hope of Jesus... the Light of the world!
And I pray that every gift you give, every meal you share, every carol you sing and every tradition you create with your famly will reflect the goodness and the creativity which is our Creator- our Heavenly Father.
May you and those you love be blessed during this wonderful season as we celebrate the birth of a Savior.
Blessings,
Steve