“Where is the newborn King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in far-off eastern lands and have come to worship him.” Matthew 2:2 (TLB)
Our local police department reports that three people stole a charity box of several hundred dollars intended for Cerebral Palsy. Less than three miles from our quiet neighborhood, a young lady was kidnapped and sexually assaulted and forced to withdraw cash from various ATM Machines. In the Northeast part of the county, one person was killed and two were injured in a shootout that started as a robbery attempt. Seems a young man made the “mistake” of standing outside his home, making himself a robbery target. In a Colorado church, death came calling when a disturbed man killed two parishioners before being shot by a former Police Officer volunteering as a Security Guard. Is this why the Son of God was born of a virgin in the sleepy little town of Bethlehem more than 2000 years ago?
Why do we celebrate the coming of God to earth by getting drunk and smashing into each other, killing some? How do we show love for our fellow man when we shove to the front of a toy line, to get the last one of something your child won’t even remember next year? What kind of “peace” do we get from charging up our credit cards to the stratosphere to buy people things, when what they need is love. Why does Christmas bring the need for police officers to work security at the banks so that someone who has the meaning of Christmas wrong will go somewhere else to rob and buy Christmas gifts with? We have let the merchants steal the meaning of Christmas from us! The Mall has made it all about money. Money has nothing to do with love. Christmas is a love story
Do we even remember the reason for the season? Is there more to it than Toys –r-Us and Sears? My Brothers and Sisters, we are trying to save a dead, dry, and spiritually thirsty world with gift cards from Wal Mart and banana republic. What people NEED and what they WANT are two different things. They WANT a never ending list of high technology gifts. They NEED to see Jesus in us, helping the less fortunate; our children MUST see us modeling the Savior, not just reading about him. In this Christmas, let us try to get past the overpriced junk, and remember a babe who came to bring eternal peace to the earth. He has already paid for our redemption with his own blood. One day he will return to bring eternal peace to the earth at last! Let us celebrate the love of The Heavenly Father who held back not even his own son from his children. Let us remember the reason for the season, and that wise men still follow him.
Copyright 2007 Timothy E. Davis