“Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.” Luke 17:9-10
Worthlessness and unworthiness are not the same thing. We are unworthy, but we are not worthless. Our value is derived from the love of our Creator. Humility is simply the profound awareness of our unworthiness of His grace. So much of the time I can find myself obeying as if I am doing God some kind of favor. But God’s grace is so deep. His grace is in the cross, but his grace extends beyond this. It’s grace that He has not separated Himself from humanity because of our betrayal. I understand its a hard pill for some people to swallow that God allows people to go to hell, but I think it’s amazing that despite our betrayal God doesn’t want to be separated from us and it’s amazing that not all of humanity is being sent to hell. It’s amazing that even some will be saved. It’s amazing that He experienced pain on our behalf so we could spend eternity with Him. It’s amazing that we have heat in the winter. It’s amazing that we have cars. It’s amazing we can go places. It’s amazing we have trendy clothes. It’s all grace. Who do we have to thank that we even have jobs for our income or the resources to go to school? So is anything we do for Him really a favor to Him? Or isn’t it the other way around? We are truly unworthy.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Saturday, December 4, 2010
The Two Sides of Christmas
”He has also set eternity in the human heart.” Ecc 3:11
Christmas is my absolute favorite time of year. It is focused on close relationships, hearth, and generosity. Why do so many of us love Christmas? I have come to believe it is because Christmas is centered on a theme that I think is very near and dear to our hearts: Hope. And if you don’t believe me, suicide rates drop around Christmas. Seems contrary to nature, but I googled it (Yep, this is what I do in my spare time). Yes, Christmas awakens Hope. And without Hope the heart aches in pain, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick” (Prov 13:12). If you deprive yourself of hope, you will deprive yourself of life. Hope enables you to live and endure the present circumstances of life because for you to have hope there is something you must be looking forward to and holding on to that gives you the strength to move forward.
Which leads me to my next observation. Christmas has another side to it, a side that is less than enjoyable. This side of Christmas can inspire a love-hate relationship to the holiday. Christmas has a strange way of awakening longings in each of us. We start to pine away for the things we don’t have. And if you are still unsure, just think about how we begin the holidays with the biggest shopping day of the year - Black Friday.
We all have our own version of Christmas, the way we wish Christmas was and the things we long for - we long for our own version of the perfect family, one in which our family was closer and more loving. A family that is like the kinds you see on Lifetime TV around Christmastime. Or you may long for the perfect husband or children. You may long for a victorian mansion and white picket fence. We each have our own version of the perfect Christmas, the way we think life should be. And it is around Christmas that we are reminded that it is not that way at all. Yes, Christmas awaken longings for a better life.
Christmas is my absolute favorite time of year. It is focused on close relationships, hearth, and generosity. Why do so many of us love Christmas? I have come to believe it is because Christmas is centered on a theme that I think is very near and dear to our hearts: Hope. And if you don’t believe me, suicide rates drop around Christmas. Seems contrary to nature, but I googled it (Yep, this is what I do in my spare time). Yes, Christmas awakens Hope. And without Hope the heart aches in pain, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick” (Prov 13:12). If you deprive yourself of hope, you will deprive yourself of life. Hope enables you to live and endure the present circumstances of life because for you to have hope there is something you must be looking forward to and holding on to that gives you the strength to move forward.
Which leads me to my next observation. Christmas has another side to it, a side that is less than enjoyable. This side of Christmas can inspire a love-hate relationship to the holiday. Christmas has a strange way of awakening longings in each of us. We start to pine away for the things we don’t have. And if you are still unsure, just think about how we begin the holidays with the biggest shopping day of the year - Black Friday.
We all have our own version of Christmas, the way we wish Christmas was and the things we long for - we long for our own version of the perfect family, one in which our family was closer and more loving. A family that is like the kinds you see on Lifetime TV around Christmastime. Or you may long for the perfect husband or children. You may long for a victorian mansion and white picket fence. We each have our own version of the perfect Christmas, the way we think life should be. And it is around Christmas that we are reminded that it is not that way at all. Yes, Christmas awaken longings for a better life.
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