December 2, 2007

Good Sunday morning! The Christmas songs have begun, the trees and lights are up, and everywhere people have Christmas on their mind and on their smile. Yes, it is the blessed season of our Savior's birth. Do you have worries, fears, anxiety, stress, or perhaps self-pity this season of the year? Many people do. I read something that gives me comfort today in Isaiah 55:8

"My thoughts are completely different from yours," says the Lord. "And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine."

To me that is a great comfort. When I think back on all of the self-destructive thoughts that come through my mind it is comforting to know that God's thoughts are not like that. When people build their pantheons or idols, often the stories of their beginnings are very much like our own thoughts; sexual deviance, violence, incest, and theft all mar the tales of these pagan religions. God's thoughts are not like that, and you can read in Genesis that the story of the beginning was not like the world's tales. Take comfort in God's majesty and in His sovereign will at work in our lives. In the end it isn't about what evidence the world can present to bolster its shaky foundation; it is about the choice to believe in Jesus, the Christ and Messiah, or to not believe. Believe and we are saved, don't believe and be condemned already, no middle ground, no excuses, just a clear choice. The Christmas season takes on a whole new glory in the light of believing in Jesus. Everything light, tree, gift, and wreath celebrates the birth of our Lord when we choose to believe.

Have a very merry Christmas!

Bucky