The Reason for the Season

26 Dec 2014 by Adeliyn Lim-

 

It’s Christmas season again! Malls are packed with people rushing to finish their Christmas shopping in preparations for parties and gift exchanges. Santa Claus, appearing in all shapes and sizes, are bellowing the customary “Ho, Ho, Ho” while children go up to “Santa” expectantly for a small token. Gaudy Christmas trees surround the many kiosks selling Christmas themed trinkets and cookies.

As Christians, we know that that’s not what Christmas is all about. It’s about Christ coming to us in the form of a man, having lived as a man, and died as a man, in order to give us the Grace to be saved from our sinful nature and eternal damnation.

 

 

Christmas is about God’s redemptive love for us.

However, often times when things are going well, we often put God in the backburner. Our priorities get messed up because life’s ‘demands’ are constant, louder, and more visible. During Christmastide, let’s take time and pause our lives to remember the One who first loved us (1 John 4:19, John 3:16).

 

Love God First; love myself second.

 

“They tested God again and again
and provoked the Holy One of Israel.”

(Psalm 78: 41)

 

The Bible has many illustrations of the fact that we humans are a forgetful race.[1] The prophet Malachi reminds us in Malachi 1 to not just to renew our love for God and make the kind of sacrifices that are pleasing to Him, but also to be humble and not think that we are higher than God’s laws and standards.

 

 

Some things to think about as we prepared for Christmas:

1. Who (or what) were we busy about? Is it our children, our family and friends? Is it that annual Christmas party dinner, the tree, the discounts, the Christmas cantata/show at church? Where did God fit in our activities?
2. If Jesus came to our Christmas party, will He be pleased with what we had prepared?

 

“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

(Micah 6:8)

 

To err is human; to forgive, divine. This proverb holds true for all of us, all the time. As human beings, it is inherent that we will fail despite our best intentions and efforts. Jesus himself said so himself, when he and the disciples went to pray in the Garden of Gethsemane, “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Matthew 26:41, Mark 14:38)

The blessed assurance is this: God has already called us into His presence and made us His people through the work on the cross. What we need to do is to wise up and humble ourselves everyday by remembering God, first in our lives. Have the holy fear of the Lord in our heart. (Proverbs 9:10, Job 28:28, Psalm 111:10) Remembering that it is not our righteousness, but His mercy that allows us to call God “Abba Father”. (Romans 6: 6-14, Titus 3:3-7) As we make preparations for Christmas, put this in mind: God is the reason for every season.

 

 

[1] Some of the many illustrations from the Bible: Exodus 15:22 – 17:7, Exodus 32; Numbers 14; Nehemiah 13; Psalms 78, 95, 106; Jeremiah 2-3,  Malachi 1-2; Revelation 2:4-5, 3:1-3

 

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Adeliyn Lim has oscillated between Kuantan, Penang and KL, currently working as a human resources specialist in a telecommunications company. She admits that the walk with God is at times like a walk on the beach in sunny weather and at times like stumbling on cobbled alleys on dark, stormy days. Her philosophy in life is, “Life is a bed of roses. Thorns included.”