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Home for Christmas

The other night, the clouds parted over our busy December calendar and Lisa and I decided to buckle
the kids into the minivan and make for Lowes. It was time to find our 2018 family Christmas tree! On
the drive over, I made the mistake of personifying the tree and telling my six, four, and two year old that
right now, somewhere on the Lowes lot, there was a very sad and lonely tree that has been enduring
many long, cold nights waiting for us to come and pick him up and who has spent several anxious days
worried that some other family was going to buy him first and take him away. Our tree couldn’t wait to
be rescued and brought to our warm, cozy little home; I told them. This, of course, spiked the anxiety
level on what was already a somewhat stressful errand. We were barely into the Garden Center when
my two little girls took off sprinting in the direction of the “cries” coming from some motley little tree.
“Daddy, Daddy, Daddy! We’ve got to save him! This one!” I reached in and grabbed the trunk and set
the tree upright in the aisle and began the usual assessment. Every Christmas tree shopper is looking to
check three boxes on their balsam, fir, or white pine. Does the tree have the right shape? Is its trunk
straight? Is it free of a bunch of bare spots? We shake its boughs down, we twirl it, looking it up and
down, and we see if we can plumb its main line. Thankfully for me, the tree that the girls embraced
wasn’t all that bad and we were able to rescue it.

This whole process got me to thinking about how God selects those who would be rescued and brought
into His home this Christmas. Are there boxes that God checks when He looks you and me over? Do we
have to have that right look? Do we have to have a past and present that isn’t too crooked? Do we
have to be leading full, vibrant lives without a lot of bare spots? That’s when I remembered the passage
of Scripture in Mark chapter 2 that gives Jesus’ response to the charge that He was spending too much
time in the company of questionable folk. Here’s what Jesus said: “Those who are well have no need of
a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” God sent His son into
the world for the motliest of us; for the grossly misshapen, the crooked, and barren. He takes us into
His home and strings us with His heavenly light and adorns us with all the ornaments of His Gospel. And
then the greatest of Christmas miracles happens. Having been chosen, redeemed, and loved; we soon
take the shape of our Savior. Our pasts, presents and futures are straightened out and everything
missing is filled in. Those were glad tidings the angels sang! So, cry out to the Lord this Christmas – He’s
anxious to come to your rescue and take you home to be with Him! Merry Christmas!

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Our Pagan Prayers

December 16, 2018

Isaiah 5:18-19

18 Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood, who draw sin as with cart ropes, 19 who say: “Let him be quick, let him speed his work that we may see it;
let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near, and let it come, that we may know it!”

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In Abel’s Stead

December 9, 2018

Genesis 4:25-26

25 And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called his name Seth, for she said, “God has appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him.” 26 To Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. At that time people began to call upon the name of the Lord.

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The Judge Who Hears Your Case

December 2, 2018

1 John 1:9

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

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Nutcracker Christianity

“They know enough who know how to learn.” – Henry Adams

A squirrel’s teeth never stop growing. The typical red or gray squirrel’s four front teeth, which are curved and chisel-like, will grow eight inches a year and will, over a lifetime, see over six feet of growth. God made them this way because He made their food supply hard to get at. Getting into an acorn, hickory nut, or walnut will file down and crack the best set of teeth. There’s encouragement in this for the squirrel and there’s also a charge. As long as the squirrel is alive, it’ll have the tools to eat, grow, and survive; and that’s heartening. But more sobering is the thought that if the squirrel isn’t cracking his own nuts, it’s teeth will grow very long, become impossible to use, and the little squirrel will soon starve to death.

God has made disciples of Christ in much the same way. The food supply for the believer’s soul is often a tough nut to crack, but every Christian baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus has the tools to get at the meat. And any Christian who never endeavors to wrestle, struggle, and work out his faith, will soon see his soul starve to death on a supply of spiritual puree. Good Christian discipleship involves giving the believer treasures that are still in their shell and encouraging a hunger sufficient for the challenge. As the writer of Hebrews urged, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” (10:24-25) Let’s help each other get cracking – to grow in faith and grace!

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