In less than one week we will celebrate
Christmas Day.
It has been said that the day Jesus was
born forever changed the world.
Looking back, the change must have been
so great that mankind made His life the most historic point of
reference.
Historians now divide the time between
the periods BC and AD.
Centuries before His birth the prophets
foretold of His arrival.
When He arrived, those prophecies were
fulfilled but certainly not in the way many had imagined it would.
His place of birth was not a palace but
rather a stable.
His earthly parents were not people of
wealth and power but rather those of faith.
The news of His birth was not announced
to society's elite but rather to humble shepherds out in the field.
This was indeed a day that changed
world.
Or was it?
Roughly 2,000 years have come and gone
since that day and the world still experiences the same problems
today as it did then.
Problems like war, poverty, famine and
ignorance still exist.
To the unbeliever, this is
justification for a lack of faith.
The believer, however, realizes that we
still live in a fallen world whose inhabitants still desperately need
a Savior.
The believer also knows that this
fallen world has such a Savior in Jesus.
John 3:16 (NET) – For this is
the way God loved the world: He gave His one and only Son, so that
everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.
This is the key.
God loves the world He created..
God loves every person He created in
His images and His likeness.
Since we lacked the ability to save
ourselves, God loves us enough to give His one and only Son in order
that we be saved.
Yet, there is a provision. In order to
be saved we must believe in Him.
Therefore, it is not the world that was
changed by the birth of Jesus,
Rather, it is the lives of those that
believe that are changed and changed in incredible ways.
But what of problems like war, poverty,
famine and ignorance?
While it is true that these and other
conditions still exist, these are now opportunities for the faithful
to serve.
Opportunities that will continue to
exist until He returns.
Opportunities to reach out, to help and
to spread the Good News.
Matthew 9:37-38 (NET) – Then he
said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers
are few. Therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers
into His harvest.
One day, the world itself will change.
Revelation 21:1 (NET) – Then I
saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and earth had
ceased to exist, and the sea existed no more.
What a sight that will be to behold.
Still, there is no sight more beautiful
than a life forever changed.
A life that has changed in the only
possible way.
A life that has experienced true belief
in Jesus.
Christmas is so much more than a
celebration of the birth of a child born in humble surroundings.
It is even more than a way in which we
reach out to God.
It is a celebration of how God reached
down to us to satisfy our greatest need.
Therefore we celebrate not only the
birth of Jesus; we also celebrate His life among us and all that He
continues to be!
Christmas Blessings,
Jim Pokorny
The Other Brother Jim
