For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. - Isaiah 9:6 (ESV)
And now the waiting is nearly over as the annual celebration of the birth of the King of Kings, His birthday party, is just hours away. Children, of course, are excited and their parents are hopeful that they will be happy with their presents while the parents themselves hope that they will be able to handle the bills that will arrive in January. But wait, that isn't the message of importance that is in the celebration, is it? No, of course not, for the celebration is for the birth of the Christ Child and what it means to mankind, not the party that we give for Him. And, as far as the waiting is concerned, what we really await is His return at a time unknown to us, for when He comes on His next visit it will truly be to rule the world for one thousand years with lasting peace and harmony among all.
All of the fun and frivolity is certainly a good thing as long as we keep it in perspective. And as far as the waiting for Jesus is concerned, this has been a fact for many centuries. After all, that great prophet, Isaiah, who is quoted in the scripture above, was looking for Him seven hundred years before His first coming. Isaiah was one of those great men who was given the gift of being a seer, or being able to see what lies ahead in the future. It was a wonderful gift, yet even in His case people grew tired of it and eventually He was put to death. But Isaiah knew the importance of Jesus Christ and what His coming would mean. And we have the capability of knowing that same thing if we only read and study God's Holy Word and pray about what it means to us.
Every person who claims to be a Christian needs to realize that since this Man and God came to live on earth in human form to offer us salvation, we need to put the true meaning of Christmas and the life it brings at the center of our lives. God gave us life to exalt Him, honor Him and live for Him. Anything short of that means we are just fooling ourselves, but we can't fool God. With His ability to know all and see all, past, present and future, we can't escape His oversight. But if we put the true Spirit of Christmas and what Jesus really means to us center most in our lives, not only will we understand what is expected of us, but we will truly live it.
Read and absorb the words of Isaiah and the Gospels and what they tell us about Jesus Christ on this day and apply them every day. For it means He came to us as a man, mortal like us on Christmas Day, but he was also a part of God and was able to conquer the attempts to make Him go astray. If we follow His lead as He asks, we will be able to do the same with the result being Eternal Life. We can do it, if only we make that strong commitment to put Him first and work hard to stick to it. And when we do that, there is nothing else to fear. That is the story of what Christmas begins through His birth. Take it to heart; it will never fail you.
Dear Lord, We thank you for this wonderful time of the year and all that it means. Help us to truly understand the importance of the birth and life of Jesus Christ and to follow His example and direction always. For we know that, if we do so, we will ultimately be welcomed into your Kingdom where pain and suffering will be gone forever. Amen.
And now the waiting is nearly over as the annual celebration of the birth of the King of Kings, His birthday party, is just hours away. Children, of course, are excited and their parents are hopeful that they will be happy with their presents while the parents themselves hope that they will be able to handle the bills that will arrive in January. But wait, that isn't the message of importance that is in the celebration, is it? No, of course not, for the celebration is for the birth of the Christ Child and what it means to mankind, not the party that we give for Him. And, as far as the waiting is concerned, what we really await is His return at a time unknown to us, for when He comes on His next visit it will truly be to rule the world for one thousand years with lasting peace and harmony among all.
All of the fun and frivolity is certainly a good thing as long as we keep it in perspective. And as far as the waiting for Jesus is concerned, this has been a fact for many centuries. After all, that great prophet, Isaiah, who is quoted in the scripture above, was looking for Him seven hundred years before His first coming. Isaiah was one of those great men who was given the gift of being a seer, or being able to see what lies ahead in the future. It was a wonderful gift, yet even in His case people grew tired of it and eventually He was put to death. But Isaiah knew the importance of Jesus Christ and what His coming would mean. And we have the capability of knowing that same thing if we only read and study God's Holy Word and pray about what it means to us.
Every person who claims to be a Christian needs to realize that since this Man and God came to live on earth in human form to offer us salvation, we need to put the true meaning of Christmas and the life it brings at the center of our lives. God gave us life to exalt Him, honor Him and live for Him. Anything short of that means we are just fooling ourselves, but we can't fool God. With His ability to know all and see all, past, present and future, we can't escape His oversight. But if we put the true Spirit of Christmas and what Jesus really means to us center most in our lives, not only will we understand what is expected of us, but we will truly live it.
Read and absorb the words of Isaiah and the Gospels and what they tell us about Jesus Christ on this day and apply them every day. For it means He came to us as a man, mortal like us on Christmas Day, but he was also a part of God and was able to conquer the attempts to make Him go astray. If we follow His lead as He asks, we will be able to do the same with the result being Eternal Life. We can do it, if only we make that strong commitment to put Him first and work hard to stick to it. And when we do that, there is nothing else to fear. That is the story of what Christmas begins through His birth. Take it to heart; it will never fail you.
Dear Lord, We thank you for this wonderful time of the year and all that it means. Help us to truly understand the importance of the birth and life of Jesus Christ and to follow His example and direction always. For we know that, if we do so, we will ultimately be welcomed into your Kingdom where pain and suffering will be gone forever. Amen.
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