Soli Deo Gloria

Last week I took a road trip to Harbison Blvd. I recently did some trade work with a pool company for a new web site project and the result was a nice new filtration system for our pool that uses salt instead of chlorine to clean our pool. So Saturday morning I told Angie I was heading out to stop by Sams to get a big bag of salt. She reminded me that traffic would be awful because of Christmas shoppers but I thought it wouldn’t be that bad this far from Christmas.

As I began my trek down Harbison Blvd. I took some time to watch people. To watch what seemed to be thousands of cars and people hustling and bustling from store to store, backed up in miles of traffic. What amazed me is that everyone wasn’t rushing to food stores to buy food for the poor. There wasn’t a long line in front of the Christian bookstores where people would be buying Bibles for those in this world that desperately need to hear about Christ. Instead, I watched for the first time in my life, in awe as people acted the fool standing in long lines, yelling at each other over parking spaces and spending hundreds of dollars on “gifts”. It was like watching people on a “drug” - a level of ecstasy as they rush to counters for the latest sale on products.

Can you imagine if only one-third of everyone on that Saturday who were in Harbison to shop for Christmas presents would have spent the time they did shopping to help someone in need.
Christmas is not about shopping. It’s not about Santa Claus. It’s not about eating a big meal. It’s not about trees, lights and sales. The disney land of america that we live in has taken the Gospel and turned it into something that can be marketed to make money and convince us all that it’s all about finding the best gift, best deal and latest gadget.

Christmas is about our God who loves us so much that He left His throne in Heaven to become a man. A man that would be beaten, spit on, hit, cursed at and have a crown of sharp thorns pressed into a beaten face to be further beaten in to His skull with blows to the head with reeds. A man that would be nailed to a tree for us. Our Savior died one of the cruelest, most horrible deaths imaginable and was for a time separated from God in a way we can never understand as He bore our sins upon that cross. All this He did for us. He is our treasure. He is our Christmas gift. He is our King.

As you imagine being at the manger staring at the face of our God remember that from the moment our King was born in that lowly manger that He was brought to earth by God for us. To be our Savior, our King… our God in the flesh.
Isaiah 53 foretold of Christ over 600 years before Christ was born in one of the most beautiful passages of Scripture…

Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.

Let’s put Christmas where it needs to be this year. Instead of focusing on giving of gifts, stuffing our mouths with food that those on the streets would give anything for… let’s focus on the Light of the Gospel - Jesus Christ.

Tradition has it that gifts are exchanged at Christmas in the same manner the wise men gave gifts to Christ at His birth. I would like to recommend that this year we each give each other three gifts - symbolic of the three gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh given by the wise men in honor of the Christ Child. As we give these gifts we need to reflect on the ultimate and most awesome gift ever given - the gift of Christ Jesus our King by our most gracious, merciful God.

If you’ve already bought more than three gifts for family then the extra gifts can be given to someone in need. Know a friend that hasn’t been as blessed as you? Give them the extra gifts to give. See a stranger who is struggling? Give them a gift. Give one of your extra gifts to a random person… the bag boy at your grocery store, the waiter or even a fast food clerk. Do it all for the glory of Christ. Every act of giving should be done for His glory - never expecting anything in return or any honor to yourself. Better yet, give even the three gifts you planned to give to a family member to someone in need. How awesome on Christmas day to be able to tell one another that someone in need was blessed by the love of Christ that is in you.

As a family so blessed let’s make this Christmas a start to many more to come where our focus is on Jesus Christ. Not santa, not toys, not material gifts. Our treasure is in the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus our King and Lord. Everyday for us as Christians is Christmas!

Daily Walk, Rants