Holiday Musings
The greatest gift of the season came around 2,000 years ago, our amazing Savior, Jesus Christ, who died in our place and resurrected to new life so that all who come to Him may also have a new life forevermore.
No matter our background, our relationship status, our friend circle, or our occupations, one man came into the world and changed everything for humanity.
He taught us genuine love, and the true meaning of the Torah God handed down to Moses in ancient days.
This momentous event even had astrologers on the lookout because of the celestial signs in the stars. The Bible often frowns upon divination using such methods, but the Book of Genesis says the stars exist for signs and appointed times, too. A group of wise men (not three, as is commonly believed) came to see the Messiah in his earliest years due to this sign in the stars. The stars aligned in such a way as to signal a king had been born.
Isn’t it interesting? Jesus grew up as a normal person, like you and I did. He started as an innocent infant and grew into the wisest and most famous man in history.
God could have done it another way, could have made him an adult from the outset, as He did with Adam at the beginning, but how would humanity relate to Him?
He lived the entire human experience, including suffering at the hands of a sickening torture method devised by wicked minds. But it was all for God’s glory.
We have a supernatural friend in Jesus Christ, walking with Him in our lives until the day we leave this Earth for what’s beyond the mortal engine of this universe.
But before His grand exaltation into a heavenly body, Jesus was a mere boy. I don’t enjoy using the word mere when referring to Jesus, but the point is He grew through a normal childhood.
There is a beautiful side to the Christmas story. Of fulfilled promises, of people chosen to do wonderful things.
It had been thousands of years since God’s declaration in the Garden of Eden to the serpent, the shining angel known as Satan or Halel. Yet, after those millennia, stood the fulfilled promise of the Savior being born to crush Satan’s head.
Satan ended up bruising Jesus’s heel, by forcing the hands of wicked men to crucify Him, but that was the point all along. He crushed Satan further by rising from the dead.
The last enemy to be defeated is death, which doesn’t happen in its fullness until the new heavens and new Earth, after the Millennium of Jesus ruling this Earth as king.
But the lesson here is just because something takes a while to happen doesn’t mean God’s not actively involved in lining things up just right.
He had perfect timing, and Christ came at the right time.
Mary was a blessed woman, chosen to give birth to the Messiah. God anointed her to carry a piece of Himself within her womb and take care of Him after He had grown.
Joseph, the carpenter, was chosen to direct and lead Jesus as a father, another honorable station in bringing that ancient prophecy of defeating Satan to fruition.
Even the astrologers from the East had to bow their practices to the ultimate authority over the future and predictions. Even if something is occult, God is sovereign in power over it and used it for the King’s glory.
This time of year has a different feel to it, doesn’t it?
It’s much like the Sabbath, which feels different from the rest of the week, set apart to be a special day.
I hope people out there are having an amazing time with friends and family, seeing as this holiday was given by a humble family thousands of years ago.
This is the season of gifts and blessings.
Family is an amazing blessing. Love your family with all your heart and be grateful they are there with you. Despite what pernicious liars in the Hebrew Roots movement think, this time of year is a golden time for love and interaction. Cherish it.
Romance is another blessing, and to spend this time with someone you love is sometimes our greatest wish.
Don’t worry if you don’t have someone, your soulmate is out there. Better to be with someone who is right for you than feel alone and trapped in the wrong relationship, so have gratitude you’ll find the right one in God’s perfect timing.
Receiving material things is also a blessing, despite many Christians feeling like having “things” isn’t Christlike. Our attitude and humility are what’s important, not having or not having things.
If God has blessed us with “things,” then it’s only right to offer gifts to others, no matter what time of year it is.
But sometimes all you need is some hot chocolate, a cozy fire, and some Mariah Carey to get you through.
But besides that pesky song that’s always stuck in our heads, this is the most important aspect of the season:
