The CHRIST of Christmas

Life and time are both free gifts from God to all mankind, we should learn to treasure God first, then life and time.

First our own life, and then the life of others.

The second gift we should value is time, first time with God, then time with family, finally time with friends.

If we valued life and time then life would be precious to us all, sadly we have lost our love for God, for life, for each other.

We glorify abortion at the expense of 60 million babies just in our nation, then factor in abortions worldwide, euthanasia, murder, ruthless world leaders, ruthless religious groups, we see the numbers skyrocket into the billions, there are more people killed in our time than any other in world history.

People of all ages are forgotten, look at the loneliness of people, in our families, our neighborhoods, our community, those who live alone, in nursing homes, in the hospitals, orphans, or on the streets.

We don't have to go far to see people that have been forgotten by us all, we become so wrapped up in our lives, we have no time to share.

As Christmas approaches let us remember it is a time that we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, when God sent Him to us, to redeem our lives, to rescue us from sin’s curse, death. God came to us because we could not go to Him.

God never forgot us, He sent Jesus at the right time, for us all, for us each.

We have forgotten this, Christ came humbly to earth for us, not for us to forget about others but that through us, others would see His love.

This Christmas stop being busy in the things that do not matter, people will stand in line 2 days to buy a tv, but won't walk across the street and hang out with neighbors and proclaim God's love.

Jesus said: ” He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind... The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. Matthew‬ ‭22:37, 39‬ ‭

How can we love God or others if we don't love ourselves? I'm not talking about arrogant self-love, this is about loving who we are in Christ, how He made us, where He put us, what He is doing in our lives, knowing He is sovereign over everything.

In the grand scheme of eternity, let us be busy proclaiming the love of God, the truth of His Word and the gift of eternal life, by taking time out of our days to spend with others while God is giving us the time to do so.

God’s word says this:

“Lord, make me aware of my end and the number of my days so that I will know how short-lived I am. In fact, you have made my days just inches long, and my life span is as nothing to you. Yes, every human being stands as only a vapor. Selah Yes, a person goes about like a mere shadow. Indeed, they rush around in vain, gathering possessions without knowing who will get them. “Now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in you.” Psalms‬ ‭39:4-7‬ ‭CSB‬‬

“When the Lord saw that human wickedness was widespread on the earth and that every inclination of the human mind was nothing but evil all the time, the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and he was deeply grieved. Then the Lord said, “I will wipe mankind, whom I created, off the face of the earth, together with the animals, creatures that crawl, and birds of the sky — for I regret that I made them.” Genesis‬ ‭6:5-7‬ ‭CSB‬‬

“Summoning the Twelve, he gave them power and authority over all the demons and to heal diseases. Then he sent them to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. “Take nothing for the road,” he told them, “no staff, no traveling bag, no bread, no money; and don’t take an extra shirt. Whatever house you enter, stay there and leave from there. If they do not welcome you, when you leave that town, shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them.” So they went out and traveled from village to village, proclaiming the good news and healing everywhere.” Luke‬ ‭9:1-6‬ ‭CSB‬‬

“Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will find it. For what will it benefit someone if he gains the whole world yet loses his life? Or what will anyone give in exchange for his life? For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will reward each according to what he has done. Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.” Matthew‬ ‭16:24-28‬ ‭CSB‬‬