The Holidays

The Holidays - Jerry McDermott - https://www.raptureready.com/2019/12/11/holidays-jerry-mcdermott/

 

The great Winter holidays are approaching. Truly, when you start receiving Christmas catalogs, you know Thanksgiving is near. After turkey-time it is time for the Christmas sales panacea. How many people lose sleep waiting at night for a next-day deal? Then come the beautiful colored light displays everywhere on streets, homes and shops.

 

The holiday season is also de rigueur for parties. There are decorating parties; work parties; Home Owners Association parties; neighbor parties; family or relative parties, senior parties; plus others I haven't thought about.

 

In the Christmas spirit, I'd like to wish everyone Happy Holidays. Unfortunately, that is the normal politically correct salutation. I Don't want to offend anyone, eh? While Christmas is a feast day for Christians, it is a Federal Holiday. In fact, the title of December 25 is "Christmas Day." Therefore, it is more proper to say, "Merry Christmas.

 

Whoa! Wait a minute. All we have considered is the usual holiday hype but not the reality. Christians realize that Christmas is the acceptance of the Lord's birth. Incredibly, the heavenly Father arranged for His Son to be born of a virgin and to die for everyone's sins. The ultimate reality is that the Son of God was born such that mankind could become Born Again. Without His life, death and resurrection we might still be offering oxen, chickens, and doves for appeasement of our sins.

 

The wonder of God's love is how the complete life of Jesus is our model. While we celebrate the birth of a baby, the divine child grew up and showed us how to model our lives as the righteousness of Jesus.

 

As we work to complete the salvation mode in our lives (see Philippians 2:1-16 and chapter 3), the Bible foretells an extraordinary future life with our Lord. This is the Rapture of the Christian Church when we are bodily risen to be with Jesus in the clouds and subsequently to be transported to heaven. On earth we had a soul, spirit, and earthly body that was subject to every malady. In heaven, we will have an incorruptible body.

 

Paul explains, "He will give a new form to this lovely body of ours and remake it according to the pattern of His glorified body by His power to subject everything to Himself" (Philippians 3:21).

 

Why does Christ want complete control? He wants us to turn to Him before making decisions based on just our instinct. Further, in His famed love for us, He doesn't want us to do anything stupid. We did not approach our Lord about a particular expense and were deceived about the quality. All along, God knew we did not need it. Yes, we found out the hard way.

 

We failed to pray about the item; and once the ownership started, we failed to calm the anxiety about the repairs.

 

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:6-7).

 

There is a wonderful sequence in the sixth chapter of Matthew where Jesus outlines the Christian life:

 

1. Seek His Kingship.
2. Seek His way of holiness.
3. Then all of life's essentials will be given us.

 

The finish of the holiday season is the New Year. If you like resolutions, why not model 2020 according to the life recommendations of our Lord.

 

While the vast displays of Christmas lights are captivating for a few days, remember the Light of the World is our Lord, Jesus Christ, and He displays His love every day.