A couple of weeks ago I put on my first Christmas CD of the season today because my daughter, my daughter, Erin insisted that we listen to Christmas music, and she's the princess so we put it on. There was one song that I had had forgotten about that I first heard last year and the lyrics really struck me. So obviously God knew before I did, that I would be sharing with you and through my four year old and a punk rock band called Reliant K he gave me the words to share with you.
I Celebrate the Day
With this Christmas wish, is missed
The point, I could convey
If only I could find the words to say to let you know
How much you've touched my life, because
Here is where you're finding me
In the exact same place as New Years Eve
And from the lack of my persistence
We're less than half as close as I wanna be
And the first time that you opened your eyes
Did you realize that you would be my Savior
And the first breath that left your lips
Did you know that it would change this world forever
And so this Christmas I'll compare
The things I've felt in prior years
To what this midnight made so clear
That you have come to meet me here
To look back
And think that
This baby would one day save me
And the hope that
That you give
That you were born so I might really live
To look back
And think that
This baby would one day save me…
And I,
I celebrate the day
That you were born to die
So I could one day
Pray for you to save my life
There's two points that I want to make with this.
- One is that this baby that we celebrate on Christmas, was not just cute and cuddly, though I'm sure he was. He was God come to earth. He was born to die so that we could live. Romans 6:23 says “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Jesus was born so that he could take the punishment of our death for the sins we've committed. That's God's gift to you this Christmas, and everyday. The gift of his son so that we could live life abundantly and live with Him forever! I pray that each of us has accepted this gift, or if you haven't that you would, because this is the greatest gift that you will ever be given.
- The second point is this, if you've already accepted God's gift, where are you? Are you, like the song says, in the exact same place as new years eve? Are you half as close as you want to be to Christ because of your lack of persistency. I know I fall into this category way to much myself.
Here's another thing that I read today that struck me, when I thought I was just doing my school work but apparently God put this in my path for you two. William C Williams in his book “They Spoke from God” (it's an old testament survey book) said, In the Bible there is no such thing as “just believing” in God. True faith leads to a life of trust in the Lord and obedience to his word. See I was reading about Abraham and when God made his covenant or promise with Abraham, when he promised him children as numerous as the stars and the promised land that the Israelites would later claim he ended with this “Walk before me and be blameless.” Williams said, The promises are still gifts that Abraham can't earn, but they come with an expectation that Abraham will remain loyal to God no matter what.
Now God has given you the gift of Jesus but what do you do with it? Is it just fire insurance. Do you say, oh yeah I accepted Jesus when I was 16 so I know I'm going to heaven and just go on with your life? Or do you live a life truly trusting in God's promises, do you have a relationship with him and walk with him and talk with him, are you in his word, do you live a life that tries to honor and glorify him, do you share Christ with the people you love or is Jesus just someone that you remember on Christmas Easter. See he wants so much more then that from me, and from you. He wants a relationship with you, he wants you to have a relationship with his people in his church. Jesus wants to call you friend.
So this Christmas let's remember this. God has given you the gift of his son Jesus, a baby who was born to die so we could live, now it's our choice to decide what to do with it. Let's not let another year go by and be in the same place. Let's embrace Christ this Christmas, let's draw near to him, get to know him, let him love us and heal us and be a part of our lives.
