This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

Psalms 118:24, KJV

 

Everyone gets to that point at some stage in their life. You know the one - the one that you just are feeling overwhelmed and begin to question whether or not you can go on. Many will sink into a deep depression when life gets like that. They feel trapped, as if there is no way out of the mess that their life has become. What can we do when the struggles of life just seem too much to bear?

 

This is when we would all like that reset button. You know the one. It's that feeling that if you could just leave your problems behind and start over, that everything would be okay. The good news that I want to bring today is that God has such a reset button. It's not a "magic wand" that can just be waved to make everything go away, but it can have a much more profound effect than this immature type of fantasy that we often wish for. The rest button I am talking about is far more powerful than a walking away from reality in order to start anew. That type of abandoning of the stewardship that God has entrusted us with can only lead to guilt and even more depression. The "rest" I am referring to is a rational solution that allows us to reduce the problems we have, while at the same time taking care of the responsibilities that we have.

 

And it begins with the verse above!

 

The 118th chapter in Psalms begins and ends with the same statement: "Give thanks to the LORD for He is good, His love endures forever." The passage quoted above in the 24th verse has a dual meaning. First, it looks forward to the day of the coming of the Messiah. When we understand this properly, we will see that we truly do have a Savior - one who can restore our soul by cleansing us from all sin. Second, He also gives us a new start each day that we will accept that gift. It's an embracing of the fact that yesterday is gone, along with all of the mistakes we have made in the past. While we still have to deal with some of the problems that have arisen in our past, we have a brand new day to do something about them.

 

More importantly, we have an opportunity for a fresh outlook. We know that God will help us whenever we need that help, as long as we will seek it on His terms. We also know that He has promised that we will not be tempted with more than we can bear, If we will trust Him in this, we can begin to look at all of those problems that seemed so overwhelming with new eyes. When life seems too much for me, it is always because I am focusing more on the temporary rather than the eternal, the physical rather than the spiritual. Could this also be true of your own life?

 

Keep in mind that we are going to Heaven, should we choose to accept God's offer and terms for this wonderful gift. Since that is the case, we can effectively have the pressures that this life brings reduced to a manageable level. The reason we can do so is because we have a loving Father who has determined to give us everything we need to cope with the daily cares of this world. Further, we have a Savior who has invited us to exchange our burdens for a much lighter and gentler load to carry. Remember that it was Jesus Himself who said that His yoke was easy and His burden light. 

 

When we truly understand and accept these promises, we can effectively have that reset in our lives that we genuinely need from time to time. It must be stressed that this reset is not a walking away from rightful responsibilities that we have take on, but is is a way to put them in a perspective that will allow us to see that, with God's help, they are really not so overwhelming after all. 

 

This truly is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice, then, and be glad in it. And let us do so with a fresh determination to accept the things we cannot change, and to also accept that God will help us every step of the way, if we will just let Him.

When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the Child with His mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

Matthew 2:10-12, NIV (1978)

 

This is a beautiful account of the lengths that some will go to in order to worship the Lord. Upon learning that the Messiah they had been looking for was born, they came from a long distance to worship Him and present Him with gifts. This famous event is familiar to almost everyone, but have you ever thought about what these wise men did after they left Jesus and went back home?

 

This event was most likely the highlight of their lives - and how could it not be? After all, they were able to be there at the beginning. Those who were devoted to God had been looking for the Messiah's coming for hundreds of years. In fact, His coming had been first prophesied nearly 4,000 years earlier when Satan was warned that a descendant of Eve would "crush his head". That descendant was Jesus, and the Magi knew that they were highly honored to be in His presence shortly after His birth.

 

Such an event had to be life changing for the Magi, and though they could not stay with Jesus for long, don't you know that they thought about Him for the rest of their lives? I imagine that no thinking person could be in Christ's presence without it changing their life, and this must have been doubly true for these wise men who had sought Him out just to see Him as a baby with their own eyes. I imagine that though they had to go home, they must have surely kept Jesus in their thoughts and in their hearts for as long as they lived.

 

And so, too, should we!

 

We have just finished up with Christmas. Many have thought about Jesus for the first time in a while, as the entire world of believers have called to mind His coming into this world. Though we are not commanded to commemorate His birth in any certain way, most still celebrate the event in some way, whether at the man made holiday or at some other time during the year - and this is a good thing. But, having seriously thought about Christ for a season, what will we do now?

 

The fact is that for many people, Christmas is a one off event when they do think about Jesus' birth, but then they make the mistake of leaving Jesus in the manger. But the reason that we know about Jesus in the first place is because He did not remain a child in swaddling clothes! He grew up and had a ministry that revealed to all who were willing to see that He was the Messiah! Far beyond that, He was the Son of God who was with God in the beginning. His advent into this world in the form of a man was to provide the world a Savior, through His death, burial and resurrection! Wise men and women will think about this truth because it has the power to save all who will give their lives fully to Jesus.

 

But Jesus can only save us if we will obey and live for Him! And this will never happen if, in our minds, we just leave Jesus as a baby lying in a manger. We must take Jesus with us! By keeping Him in our thoughts and hearts, we will begin to live the rest of our lives for Him. And that, is the only way that He can save us.

 

The wise men did not leave Jesus and just go on with the rest of their lives as if the event never happened. They couldn't have, for surely God would not have given them the opportunity to witness the Messiah as a child if their hearts and minds had been so shallow. In a like manner, wise men and women today will not leave Jesus in the manger - they will take Him with them and it will change their lives! 

The angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord."

Luke 3:9-11, NIV (1978)

 

What a day of rejoicing that was! The shepherds of the field rejoiced, the angels among the Heavenly hosts rejoiced, and all of the people of God who heard the news would rejoice. That rejoicing lasts unto this very day, for every believer continues to rejoice at the thought of this good news - a Savior was born! I realize that not everyone will celebrate in the same way, and that's okay. No one in our day and age knows the actual day of the year that our Savior was born, and we are not commanded to celebrate the day at any rate. 

 

But we are to celebrate the good news, and how could we not? I love this time of year, for it has become a time when people actually give a bit of thought to the reason that we have hope. Mary and Joseph were told to name Him Jesus, for this very name means, "He saves". We sometimes look around at this wicked old world and wonder if there is any hope left. But there is, of course, because of the same news of great joy that was given 2,000 years ago when our Savior came into this world.

 

Today our family, like yours, will celebrate. We will give and receive gifts to those we love. We will have a meal that is something far out of the ordinary. Most people will have most of the day off from work and school and all of the other activities that men must busy themselves with. We will have Christmas Day parades and all sorts of Christmas specials on TV. We will even sings special Christmas songs to commemorate the day. All of these things are good, for this day needs to be a day of celebration.

 

But as we celebrate, let us not forget to keep in mind the reason for our having set aside this day in the first place. It is because our Savior really was born! He really is the Son of God, and He really did live a life that was the perfect ministry to God and men. He really was nailed to the cross because of our sins, and He really was raised again to give every person who would live from that day on a hope that they too could rise with Him on that Day when He comes again to save those who have believed in Him and who have served Him.

 

I love Christmastime for it has always been a day of rejoicing for me and my family. I know that I focus too much on the physical side of things, as I do on every other day of the year. Again, I know we are not commanded to celebrate on the 25th of December, but we are to celebrate the day that He came into this world because it has always been a day of good news of great joy for all the people. It is not merely the reason for the season: When combined with the rest of the good news of His life and death, His burial and His resurrection, it is the reason for our lives!

 

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas this year. It truly is a day of good news of great joy for all the people. and we are so blessed because our Savior was born!

We were driving back from worship one Christmas Eve when Mom and Dad had the brilliant idea that we should drive by a few houses and see some Christmas lights on the way home. If it had been the 22nd or 23rd of December it would have been fine with me. Even the night of the 25th of December would have been okay, for by that time I would have had my new toys sorted and ready to choose from for the long drive. But this was the night before Christmas and there was important business to attend to that couldn't wait for a joyride in the city. At least not in the mind of this seven year old boy at the Christmastime of 1967. Adding to my misery was the fact that Dad had graduated at the top of his class from the "quick start and fast brake" school of driving, and this little boy got car sick at the drop of a hat. 

 

It was a long drive home.

 

We had a tradition in my family. On Christmas Eve we got to choose one present for opening prior to the big day. It was an important decision, indeed. Open the wrong gift, and you could be stuck holding a pair of socks while your brother and sister were squealing with delight from the opening of their newest exciting toy from Mammaw or Aunt Gladys. Worse still, you could choose wrong and end up with a pair of footed pajamas. Then not only did you have to suffer from the consequences of your own unwise decision, but you would also have to go through the indignity of "just trying them on so we can see what they look like". For a little girl, I'm sure that would have been fine. But I can tell you from cruel experience that it was anything but fun for a seven year old boy. 

 

Just look at it from his perspective: Not only did you blow your only opportunity for an evening of toy playing bliss, but now you had to wear your mistake to bed to remind you of your poor selection. It was the kid version of Let's Make a Deal, where you could have had the new car behind door #3, but you instead chose the pen of goats that were stashed behind door #2. Come to think of it, the pen of goats would have been a superior choice to some of the blunders I have made on Christmas eves gone by.

 

But I did have some big scores on Christmas Eve that were quite notable. My favorite was a gift from my Aunt Gladys, who got me some old coins and a magnifying glass one year. I can still remember that magnifying glass - it was about an inch and a half in diameter and it folded up into a genuine leather case. Not only was it functional for its purpose intended by the manufacturer, it was also great for burning names and dates into all sorts of wood products and scrap lumber that one might find lying around.

 

Mom and Dad worked hard to make Christmas Eve special. We would have something for supper, followed by an evening of candy canes fresh off the tree and steaming mugs of hot chocolate. There were often special Christmas cartoons like "Santa Clause is Coming to Town", "Frosty the Snowman" and a brand new one - "Dr. Sues' The Grinch Who Stole Christmas". Then, after we were all sugared up and bleary-eyed from watching TV, it was off to bed to pretend to go to sleep before the big day.

 

Now I know that you must be thinking about now that I have forgotten the reason for the season, and I will have more to say about that in tomorrow's article. But for tonight, I just wanted to share a few of the memories that I have from growing up with parents who made Christmas Eve the best night of the year. And now? I am some 56 years past that Christmas Eve of 1967, but they just seem to be getting better for me every year. This year we are spending the evening with our seven grandchildren (not to mention the people who stay with them). It is a time of true joy for us, as I hope it is for you and your family. 

 

Merry Christmas!